Largest Christian University in America Gets Fined $37 Million. Coincidence or Targeted Attack?

A mud storm of political insanity is brewing in Phoenix as Grand Canyon University faces the continued threats of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Christians have watched because the Biden administration assaults biblical views left and proper, with a very vehement disregard of the sanctity of life and marriage. As such, it may possibly’t be too stunning that Cardona, part of this leftist administration, has vowed to close down America’s largest Christian college.

In late October, Grand Canyon University was hit with “a $37.7 million fine brought by the federal government over allegations that it lied to students about the cost of its programs,” The Associated Press reported—an accusation that GCU President Brian Mueller described as “ridiculous.”

Around the identical time, Liberty University, America’s second-largest Christian college, also was fined $37 million “over alleged underreporting of crimes.”

Grand Canyon University appealed its effective in November regardless that a listening to isn’t anticipated till January 2025. But the query Mueller has is one in every of integrity. Is this real consideration for the well-being of scholars, or is that this a focused assault towards non secular establishments?

“It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the two largest Christian universities in the country, this one and Liberty University, are both being fined almost the identical amount at almost the identical time?” GCU’s president speculated in a speech. “Now is there a cause and effect there? I don’t know. But it’s a fact.”

The House Appropriations Committee held a hearing early this month concerning the Biden administration’s choice to “crack down on GCU and other universities like it.”

During the proceedings, Cardona and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., made their disapproval of Grand Canyon University and related universities apparent. “[W]e are cracking down not only to shut them down, but to send a message to not prey on students,” Cardona stated.

Supporters of GCU agree that the effective appears unprecedented and motivated by ideological bias. American Principles Project Policy Director Jon Schweppe said: “The federal government’s education agenda is punishing schools that do not conform to their progressive ideology. It’s time we take a stand against this egregious abuse of power.”

Another conservative suppose tank, the Goldwater Institute, sued the Education Department for “refusing to turn over” public paperwork “that explain why” the company fined GCU. The aim of the lawsuit is to unmask the explanation behind the effective.

“With its motto of ‘private, Christian, affordable’ and its track record of graduating students into high-demand and high-paying jobs, GCU is a success story by any metric. And it stands apart from universities across the country that are facing declining enrollment, that are indoctrinating students with radical politics, and that are under attack for failing to defend the First Amendment,” the Goldwater Institute wrote. “So then why are the feds targeting GCU, a popular university that seems to be doing everything right? That’s exactly what we’re going to find out.”

Although immense uncertainty nonetheless surrounds this case, Grand Canyon University’s president took the time to share with The Washington Stand how his workers, college, and college students are fairing and the way believers all over the place may also help.

Mueller emphasised that GCU has confronted varied points over time. But regardless of the federal government’s motion, he stated he wished folks to know that “interestingly enough … it has had zero impact on anything that we’re doing.”

He continued: “The enrollments are just continuing to grow … [and] the morale is very high in terms of our faculty and staff. The campus is extremely vibrant. I mean, the students absolutely love this place. They’re extremely loyal to [the school] and so we just keep marching through it.”

And though the effective that Grand Canyon University was dealt by the Education Department is “a problem,” Mueller stated, he’s grateful that GCU stays optimistic.

Christian “mission, not politics, is our motivation and it is our hope,” he instructed The Washington Stand. As a college, Mueller defined, GCU exists to “pour into” the neighborhood round it.

“[O]ur reach into the neighborhood and caring for disadvantaged populations has been a way to live out our faith” in a manner “that has risen above … political divide,” Mueller stated. Ultimately, with support from “both sides of the aisle” in Arizona, he famous, “all the issues we have are with a very small number of people in Washington D.C.”

“We encourage people to be involved politically and vote,” Mueller stated, including: “But our faith will stand above the politics always, and our politics will never become our religion.”

Because, for “many people in our country today, their politics have become their religion, and that’s when things … go really bad in our society,” he stated.

Mueller identified that Grand Canyon University is “trying to be an example of a Christian community that can rise above those things and focus on helping people” by way of service, as Scripture calls believers to do.

Mueller concluded with a request for prayer because the college works by way of these troubling instances, and for “the hearts of certain people in Washington, D.C. to be softened.” He added that “it’s hard to make progress and resolve differences when people just … don’t want to talk to each other.”

Published initially by The Washington Stand