Federal regulators sue largest US Christian university for alleged deceptive advertising

The Federal Trade Commission sued Grand Canyon University, the largest Christian university in the U.S., as well as its CEO and President Brian Mueller for allegedly deceptive advertising and illegal telemarketing practices.

The federal regulator said Wednesday that the university deceived "prospective doctoral students about the cost and course requirements of its doctoral programs and about being a nonprofit, while also engaging in deceptive and abusive telemarketing practices," according to an announcement about the lawsuit. 

Grand Canyon University, an Arizona-based for-profit institution with more than 118,000 online and in-person students, also "deceptively marketed the school as a nonprofit," according to the FTC on Wednesday. 

Additionally, the school is accused of making "millions of abusive telemarketing calls to consumers who have specifically requested that Defendants not solicit them" to try to increase enrollment, according to the lawsuit. 

The school has not publicly commented on the matter as of Thursday morning. 

The Education Department already fined Grand Canyon University $37.7 million in late October after Federal Student Aid official Richard Cordray said the school "lied about the cost of its doctoral programs to attract students to enroll," per The Hill. The school would tell students that their programs cost between $40,000 and $49,000, but most students would ultimately pay between $10,000 to $12,000 more, according to the agency. 

At that time, the school said it "categorically denies every accusation in the Department of Education’s statement and will take all measures necessary to defend itself from these false accusations" and said the fine "is further evidence of the coordinated and unjust actions the federal government is taking against the largest Christian university in the country."

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