Grand Canyon University [GCU]
reviews and complaints

My time at GCU started back in 2009 and at first the experience was okay. The introduction counselors seemed to be nice, possibly Christian hard to tell now. The school made every effort to make sure I became a student, of course so they could get the need enrollee's up to help satisfy investors. Yes that's right, not until I was about 6 months out of completing my degree did I first find out the GCU, a private So-Called Christian University was Incorporated and was more in the business of trading dollars for degrees than educating. That's right if you look on the NASDAQ you can find this degree mill listed as LOPE currently trading at $20.50 per share. The financial aide department plays a major role in this corporations success on the stock market. The financial aide department is tasked with accepting then rejecting loans on students for any reason, to then turn around and have the student owe Grand Canyon Education, Incorporated money. This is the schools projected sales, and their is a heavy push to sucker in Veterans and others to help boost enrollment to of course project to investors that revenue will increase because student enrollment has increased. Grand Canyon Education, Incorporated is more interested in making money for the companies board of directors, stock holders and the lovely employee's of this corporation that have brought into the notion of taking advantage of students, through the governments student loan program as the new way of laundering money. Our goal is to call to the masses that have been a victim of this corporation posing as a school tatics and call on Congress, the Department of Justice, Veterans Groups, Civil Rights Groups, the national Media, students and parents. To not engage in a business relationship with this or instutions like it, similar to the Apollo Group that had received rebuke for its business practices as it fronts as a house of education but in fact are scams that make millions for these Corporations posing as Colleges/Universities to only turn around and cause serious debt to potential students. Organizations like this are America's problem, these companies cause unsuspecting students large sums of debt that piles on our nations deficit. Much like the fight that is finally leaned on the side of home owners with the mortgage crisis that greed, criminal bankers took advantage of. We too the former, current or potential students will fight to cause major changes in federal financial aide practices, fight to have universities with low retention and graduation rates to lose accrediation and have no access to federal or state funding. We will seek class action lawsuits to award the millions of dollars stolen from the federal government and students to be returned. The fight is just beginning. Please email us at [protected]@yahoo.com and like our Facebook just look for Fight GCU! United we will not only make changes at GCU, but every other for-profit school that has one thing in mind and that is taking their students to the bank!

I was promised a two year completion and six years later I'm still not finished. They changed their credit requirements in the middle of my semester from three credit hour classes to four credit hour classes, which really messed up my financial aid. They required me to take a class that I had previously acquired at another college that was transferable. I got down to my last two classes when they audited my classes to make sure I had all the requirements and found that they had made a mistake and now I do not qualify for any further financial assistance. They have made numerous errors both financially and academically and they will not take responsibility for their mistakes. After six years and thousands of dollars in financial aid (that I have to pay back) I can not graduate unless I pay out of pocket for their mistakes! They in essence have stolen government money given to them for my education and have not kept there end of the agreement.Now I have to start paying back my loans and I did not receive the education/degree they promised in order to have the education, carrier and salary required to be able to pay back the student loans.

Grand Canyon University is in the Business of ripping off students. They have the biggest scam going on in their financial department. I believe that the Financial Department is trained to suck all the money out of the students without their knowledge!
They have several bogus charges, such as health insurance of $1400.00 per year. They never let you know about this until its too late to deny it! Have you taken a good look at GCU lately, they have built a huge stadium and made so many additions to the grounds. How do they have the money to do this is easy...take it from the students that attend GCU. The total amount of tuition is $16, 500 per year. They try to recruit as many foolish students as possible, with a carrot of a promise of a scholarship, Eventually, you end up paying the majority of the tuition! Beware all students thinking of attending GCU! They are NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATING RATHER THEY ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING MONEY!

My wife has been a Paraprofessional in the Fulton County Georgia School System for almost 10 years. It was suggested several years ago that she enroll in an online Masters Program in Education to expedite getting a Teaching Certificate in Georgia since her Bachelor's Degree was not in Education. She enrolled with Grand Canyon University's online Master's Program for teachers.

Everything seemed to click right along with the online courses, feedback, and grades. I continued to file FAFSA for her and both of our sons who were also in college at the time as well. Then, all of a sudden we receive a bill from the Grand Canyon University Financial Aid Office for about $13, 000. Since most of their Help Desk attendents appear to be High School dropouts reading from a Tele-prompter, it took dozens of phone calls and dozens of screaming matches to get a straight answer on WHY we received a bill for the $13, 000. Apparently they did not receive paperwork from the Federally approved nelnet Education Planing & Financing unit so when those funds were finally received by this so-called University; they returned it to nelnet and billed us.

The process was supposed to work as follows;
1. My wife enrolls and takes the Master's Program courses.
2. The Program's expenses are paid by a Federally supported Financial Aid loan.
3. My wife should then get her Master's Degree in Education upon completion of the program.
4. My wife's income increases substantially so that she can now pay back the Financial Aid provided for the program.

Unfortunately, the idiots at Grand Canyon could not explain WHY they returned the financial aid, but that did not matter to them. They demanded the entire amount, $13, 000 immediately or my wife was not allowed to complete her Master's Program which now involved Student Teaching. I refused to settle with them until I understood why they couldn't accept nelnet's check which they claim was late for those fees. My wife agreed to cash in her IRA to pay GCU $300 per month, which I did not agree with. She was late in November of 2011 and immediately Grand Canyon University turned her account over to a Collections Agency; Williams & Fudge in Rock Hill, SC who added another $4000, 00 of fees onto the School Loan Amount!

I have filed complaints with the Fulton County School Corporation, The State of Georgia's Superintendent of Education Dr. John D. Barge and I would escalate it higher at Grand Canyon University, but they will not tell me who the President is (already found out) and said that I wasn't allowed to speak with that office.

Their other little trick to avoid conversation or resolution:
Carrie Giordano and Nancy Patt, both from the Student Resolutions Office at the University will always tell me that I am not allowed information from them because they did not receive the FERPA form (Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act) which has been faxed to their direct office no less than 6 times! They never seem to be able to find it.

I have never in my life dealt with such inept people, processes and policies! I am just seeking a resolution which they do not seem to care enough about. The WORST situation I can imagine any Teacher getting into is dealing with this so-called University.

I'm getting my Master's in Teaching from GCU's online component.. I've been pulled around by Grand Canyon University (GCU) for over a year now and frankly, I'm fed up with their handling and treatment of students. Their academic counselors and financial counselors have no idea what they are doing. They don't communicate between departments, they have no clue what's going on with their students, and furthermore, they haven't any idea what is entailed in order for students to graduate on time. I'm going to explain to you a series of events beginning in November 2010.

1) I finished my courses in October 2010. My counselors said I was ready to start my student teaching in January 2011. I was all set and ready to go, then my academic counselors informed me in late November 2010 that I needed to take my PLACE exams before I could student teach. This left me with NO time. You need to schedule PLACE exams 2-3 months in advance. I was screwed. They told me in October that I didn't need to. They lied to me, because the counselors are untrained and have no idea the processes students need to take to graduate. I was furious, but decided to postponed my student teaching one semester, because I had no choice. This also screwed me, because my FASFA loans started calling to collect. I had to defer the payments, but this made my interest rate increase!

2) In August of 2011, I was ready again to start my student teaching. My education specialist, Erick Sanchez enrolled me and set me up with Summit High School in Frisco Colorado. I started my student teaching as planned. Then, one month in to it, my academic counselor called and said I needed to pay my $5100 tuition before I could continue. I said I applied for financial aid and was was approved last Spring (April 2011). Kristen Spooner said that my financial aid was never submitted to the government, because it "fell through the cracks." She said to resign my Master Promissory Note and she would resubmit everything for me and we could continue. I did, and within two weeks of us talking... internal collections sold my tuition bill to an EXTERNAL collections agency. The departments did not communicate! Kristen Spooner said basically that there was nothing GCU could do! She said I needed to pay it off in full before I could continue with my education. But by this time, I was TWO months into student teaching. There was no way I was going to do it all over again.

3) Kristen Spooner ceased being my academic counselor shortly after. Andy Jagodowski became my new counselor and I had to explain the entire situation and story again! Andy said they would try to enroll me in an independent study so I could count my student teaching towards my degree. He appealed for this to happen, and GCU said "no". At the moment, it's still being under investigation.

First of all, I am very unhappy with GCU. In the last 2 years, my academic and financial aid counselors have changed every 2-3 months! None of them communicate with each other, no one seems to know what's going on. The departments don't talk to each other, and students are treated like crap.

GCU blatantly admitted that they messed up and forgot to submit my Federal Student Aid to the government! However, even though they messed up, they won't accept responsibility. They sold my tuition to an external collections agency and now won't let me graduate without paying it off in full. I don't have that kind of cash laying around. Of course not... that's why I've been on FASFA for the past two years.

GCU has ruined my credit score and now my 2 years of master's program is for nothing. I will never, ever attend a for-profit university again. And I feel sorry for anyone else who is.

First, the recruiters for this University are only after one thing: Consumers: so they will tell you everything you want to hear to get you signed up without really assessing your needs. Second, The costs: Was told that financial aid would cover all school expenses for classes online; Additionally, was told that fiancial aid was approved and go ahead and sign up for the class not really knowing how much I was approved for; Third, Class experience: signed up for the first mandatory class; How to succeed at Grand Canyon University (Cost: 2, 700 dollars); Started having difficulties posting assignments due to technical difficulties in the first and second week; Told by instructor that it didn't matter that you were having technical dificulties you have until such time to complete all assignments eventhough there is a record that they were sent and shown successfully posted; Technical service and advisor resolve the issue and convince me to stay on additional time eventhough I am failing a class that has no real application in my degree path; Decide to drop the class in the third week (No refund). Financial aid: Covered $700 dollars of this course; Rest of the expenses covered by me; Told must pay $250 dollars a month; Call financial office to set up another payment plan; No phone calls returned; Poor customer service and a very Unsatisfied customer.

Grand Canyon University is trying to get me to pay for a class that I never actually took. Do not post on their site unless you have every ounce of information you need. DO NOT enroll at this school. From the moment I began at this school the people were pushy and would not stop calling. Then I found out a few days after the class had began that in order to finish this degree I would have to do student teaching again. After that, I decided that I wanted to cancel. The people than became rude towards me. I un-enrolled and 5 months later began getting calls again. After dealing with the pushy people at the beginning of the process, I never called back and they never stated why they wanted to speak with me. Two months later I get a bill for $330 for posting to the class once. I then tried to get the matter resolved and the people were again rude and did not want to help in any way. They stated that once it hit internal collections there was nothing they could do. I never received the initial bill until it posted to internal collections and was told that "I should have returned the calls made in the first place." I have had nothing but a terrible experience with this place!

I got my bachelor's degree through a program at my former employer, who had a direct bill agreement with Grand Canyon University. I ended up dropping a class which I of course would have to pay for, so I applied for a student loan to cover; I also needed the money because the costs of buying books was proving rather prohibitive. I was awarded UN subsidized loans, because I had no financial need according to my FAFSA, , which I knew would happen. The week I graduated, I got a bill for in the area of $2500. A month later, it was up to $3190. I am now receiving collections calls from them, and they are saying I took out $12000 in loans which I was not entitled to. This is patently not true! I was only awarded $8245 by the Dept of Education and the disbursement by the DoE was on 8/17/2010. In fact, when I called the student loan servicer for my loan, there were THREE LOANS taken out in my name, only one of which I signed a Master Promissory Note for, and only one of which I received fund from!

When I spoke with Desiree, a loan manager from financial services, she said the above - that I was given too much money (the $12000) and that I have to pay it back. I did NOT RECEIVE THIS EXTRA MONEY NOR DO CAN I ACCOUNT FOR WHERE THE REST OF MY LOAN MONEY WENT AS I ONLY RECEIVED $6052 OF THIS MONEY YET I OWE $8245 PLUS INTEREST. The class I dropped was $998 in tuition yet there is $2193 of the loan money missing. Where has it gone? They cannot tell me. Nor can they tell me how it is I received SUBSIDIZED loan money which they say they had to pay back and is what they are billing me for. They keep calling the loan a 'stipend' and saying that I got more money that I should have because I exceeded my 'need.' Well, since my loan wasn't based on NEED I am really not sure what they are talking about. They are also saying I didn't disclose that I was receiving a scholarship which is what they are calling the direct bill program - since they would never tell me what the tuition difference even was until after I graduated, I don't think I was being dishonest there. Yet there were no changes to my award amount according to the Dept of Ed rep I spoke with.

I have receipts from my former employer stating the tuition was paid in full; I have proof from the loan servicer that three loans were taken out in my name; I have a copy of my FAFSA stating the amount and type of award. I also have a letter from Michael Whisman saying that once my employer paid, I would owe nothing. Yet now they are calling this collections calls. This has been truly a nightmare. I owe more to them and to the student loan servicer than I would have owed if I had just gone to ASU or NAU, and I was trying to avoid more debt.

What do I do? My husband says them taking out loans in my name is identity theft.

I have attended Grand Canyon University since 2009 and the finance department has been my biggest complaint. As I began my final 2 classes to complete my bachelors degree, I once again contacted the finance department to ensure all loan packaging was correct and they notified me they had not packaged it all correctly for the last year and half and would have to return approximately $10, 000 to the lender, making me responsible for this balance now on my account. I called numerous people for several days with no return calls until I was finally put in contact with someone who assured me I had more funding coming in which would cover the balance. The funding came in and did not cover the entire balance. I made numerous calls again to plead my case as I did not feel I should penalized for their error; the reason they have finance people is to ensure the loans and grant are done correctly! I am not completed with my degree, with no way of receiving my diploma or transcripts until this balance is paid, so basically I am paying for the mistakes of the university. I call every day to work on an arrangement and every day I hear that someone will get back to me and every day no one does. My education has become a waste to me; if I have to pay back this balance because they screwed up before I get my diploma I will be working minimum wage for more than a year and sending every penny I get to the university. My mother and my sister are both alumni, and my husband is serving in Afghanistan; this is not how I anticipated a Christian university dealing with their students

Had I known about this website before enrolling in GCU, I would have never attended that school. My experience has been the worst and I pray a boomerang effect on them. All the hell they put me through, I know they will see it again, but they will be on the receiving end the next time around. I will not go into detail on this board because what I have to say is going to be discussed with a lawyer. They are used to this, because they just settled a qui tam action for $5.2 million last year.
GCU is not going to be able to continue with their illegal practices without eventually paying a price. You would think they'd learn from this, but unfortunately for the students, they are right back to their old tricks. They advertise themselves as a Christian school, but they hire people who know nothing about unconditional love, or Christian values. The advisors lie and pretend to be concerned. They don't follow through and its only after you threaten to file a complaint outside of the school do they take action. It is my prayer that their enrollment drop and they get exposed for being the poorly ran school that they are. I read they are only concerned about stocks and not the welfare of their students. I know from my experiences it seems to be true. This battle is not mine, it belongs to the Lord and they will see that I come out on top. God is going to bring serious judgment against this school. I should have gone to Oral Roberts Christian College, they have a better reputation and I would have enjoyed my experience there more so than I did at this evil school.

I am extremely frustrated as well! I have been on the phone with them all morning trying to get a waiver to get my official transcripts so I can get my intern cert so I can teach. I have three more classes to take here which require me to have my cert. But because I have a low balance on my account - I don't work in the summer therefore have no money to pay it - they won't let me get them. Which now means I can't work and can't take the three classes I have left. To top if off I had to call back to speak with my Financial counselor she didn't call me back really? At first I really liked this school but every other week it seems like my counselors are changing and I have to re-explain everything to them. I am a frustrated Master's student - Wish I read all the complaints before I wasted my money.

I too am very frustrated with Grand Canyon. It seems that they do everything possible to put errors in your financial area. I have been attending GCU for three years now, I have only moved once, yet they never can get my information correct. They love to add fees to your account. I have to call them once a week for one thing and yell until they do something about it. My husband, they sent the wrong amount to us. He had just spoken to them, they said everything was fine, it was not. They did not call, email or send a letter telling us they had sent the wrong amount. Then they credited his account, seven times with an award he has never had before, took away his military, sent the extra money back, put the military award back on, said he had to pay, over two thousand dollars. We finally after months of fighting and they lying to us, did an account audit, that did not work either. They never took off the seven award errors, brought in balances we have no idea are, and send he his stipen, and told him, OK we fixed it, you owe us two thousand dollars. You can pay that right now. Don't go here. I have to threaten a lawyer to get them to call me back. You don't want this. Now, that we all have this balance, we can't transfer or get our records. Though its their fault, but we have to pay, which we are not. After three years worth of work, 1800. per class that teachers you nothing, but you write a term paper every week. It's not worth coming here. We are talking to a lawyer, possible class action against them for the troubles, heartaches, and general the extra tears we have gone through, plus the phones we have thrown across the room. Now, they are charging 100 for old students and 400 for new students a fee for the new classroom. Beware, also class prices went up too... DO NOT ATTEND THIS SCHOOL, IT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU

Unlike most of the complaints on the internet boards I was an on ground student at Grand Canyon University and was attempting to get my BSRN. I was enrolled in school BEFORE the Apollo College merger and I have to say that the time at the school pre-Apollo was actually quite good. I had a couple REALLY brilliant professors including one who was a lead microbiologist for humanitarian missions to 3rd world countries to help with vaccinations and pandemics. However after Apollo came into the picture the school all the good teachers were either fired or unable to teach the material they wished to thus the whole system went to hell.

I know that it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to file claims against private schools however there were a few incidents which occurred during my time at the college that I personally feel are beyond the legal protection blanket of the "private college" title. Please let me know if it seems like I have grounds to file...

1) When I started school at GCU I was told VERBATIM by both a nursing school advisor and an academic advisor that if I started out my academic career at the school with Freshman status I would be automatically accepted into the BSRN program at the school as long as I maintained a 3.0 GPA for all of my under grad years. In order to qualify myself to be a freshman I didn't transfer SEVERAL classes and paid to retake them at GCU so I could qualify for the automatic enrollment bonus. Upon hitting my senior year I met with the nursing school advisor to sign up for classes (I had met the 3.0 requirement) however I was not only told that my GPA was not high enough to enter the program (so I needed to retake classes) but that there was never an a promise of automatic entry into the program with freshman status and a 3.0 GPA. So basically they lied to me and forced me to pay to retake classes I had no need to take and then revoked a promise they had stated upon enrollment. My mother, father, and emails can attest to their statements.

2) While I was enrolled in the schools mandatory "Ethics" class I was participating on the online weekly discussion board when the topic of euthenisation came up. Of course it is controversial however I stated my views honestly and logically in order to get credit for the assignment. It was then that the professor personally replied to my post comparing me to "the unholy nazis who ran gas chambers in Auschwitz" and continued to go so far to inquire if I was "one of those baby killing pro-lifers". May I remind you that this is THE PROFESSOR? I reported this to the school and nothing was done.

3) While I was enrolled in the schools "Christian World Views" class online I was mandated to work online with another student to finish an assignment. When I contacted that student at first I wasn't able to get a response, to which the professor stated "I was not trying hard enough". Finally when I did get a hold of the student after doing much of the work on my own the student then stated to me if it would be cool if he just bought a paper online to turn in as our assignment...I was NOT about to get screwed for participating in plagiarism and turned him in to the teacher and to the school. Nothing was done. He was passed and the teacher said nothing.

***This might fall under whistle blower category***
These actions took place during my time working in the GCU offices/call centers

1) Students who were employed by the school to contact people who were "interested" in GCU were suppose to be removed from the lists when they requested to be removed but they NEVER WERE, students also called phone numbers before their legally allowed time zone time, and called people who were on "do not call" lists.

2) I PERSONALLY saw and was even offered to pose as a GCU graduate WHEN I HAD NOT GRADUATED for the purposes of recruiting more students, the school was also offering the position to people who were not attending GCU. Another position offered included going onto webpages posing as a GCU representative and responding positively to any and all negative feeds regarding GCU.

The actions of GCU make me sick and I am glad that I was able to get out of the school with all of my class credits in tact HOWEVER there are several students still trapped. These are just a fraction of the horrible things I have dealt with concerning GCU however I don't feel that anything else is able to hold up in a legal fight. Please let me know if you believe that I have ANY grounds for a suit! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

PLEASE REMEMBER I WAS AN ON GROUND STUDENT!

i don't know if im qualified in posting my problems with this school i really like this school. the only thing about it is that i failed two of the classes there and at first i was told that from my finance counselor that she would see if she could get a private loan done i didn't hear from her for a while and when she finally got in touch with me i was told that to continue with my classes that i would have to pay 3734.31. and i never got my disbursements. i did not attend this college for any reasons other than to further my education so i could provide my son who is five, a better life. if I'm wrong then I'm sorry. i don't have the money to pay the sum I am already struggling to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.

k.wade

June 13, 2011

Dr. Kimberly LaPrade

Dean, College of Education

Grand Canyon University

Dr. LaPrade,

I am submitting a request to you for assistance with an unresolved situation with the university that you represent, or connecting me to an individual who can assist me in an expeditious manner. My name is [redacted], and I am a GCU graduate effective June 8, 2011.

I have been charged for coursework that was not a part of my enrollment agreement, and my attempts to resolve the situation within the prescribed channels has led nowhere. At every step along the way in this situation, I was informed that the charges would not occur. When they did, I was notified that the charges would be reversed. It is now going on to the 6th week without any resolution despite my repeated calls, and without any contact from the academic counseling department as to progress.

In November 2009 I enrolled with GCU to complete a masters program in education administration. In Winter 2010 I had to sign a new enrollment agreement to change to the four-credit programming. At that time, I signed an enrollment agreement which called for two 2-credit internship classes. In October 2010, I was told that I would have to take two 4-credit internships, but that I would not be charged for the second. I was reassured by Ryan Weeda, my second academic counselor that this would be the case on repeated occasions.

In April 2011, I was charged for the second internship. Approximately 1200 dollars was subtracted from my financial aid package, leaving a balance of 760 dollars owed to the university. I immediately contacted Ryan Weeda, who informed me that he would submit the issue to his manager for resolution, and that the money would be refunded. After two weeks, I again contacted the university to check on the status. I was told that Ryan had been promoted, and that Dan Medina, my third academic counselor, would assist me. Dan was not aware of my issue, and I had to start the process over. He asked me to submit a complaint form, which I did, and that he would forward this on to his manager.

After two weeks I was contacted by Erin Ontko, who notified me that I had an outstanding balance on my account. Angry, I asked to be connected to Dan, and was notified that my academic counselor was Katherine Biesler (now my fourth counselor in a year and a half), and that Dan was helping her accounts while she was on vacation. Katherine notified me that the request had been approved by her manager, but that action required approval from an unnamed regional manager. Since this time (four weeks into the formal process) I have had no resolution or contact from Lorenzo Sanchez, the academic counseling manager. I am now in my sixth week, have completed all coursework and requested transcripts which I am concerned will not be sent due to the outstanding balance. It appears that GCU has made little priority resolving this situation or contacting me.

I request that GCU honor the signed agreement that I have contracted with the university, and that the 860 dollars along with the 1200 dollars already received be refunded. I am disappointed that the university has not demonstrated leadership or action on my behalf, and consequently I am cc’ing this email to the administrative leadership, along with the Arizona State Board for Private Post-Secondary Education and consumerist.com seeking resolution.

I hope that this action will spur the university to resolve my situation and take appropriate action so that other students do not suffer.

This university is the most unprofessional educational company I have ever seen. My situation is so complexed... but after attending GCU for the last 3 years I have been through 3 academic counselors and 2 financial advisors. I decided that in 2010 I no longer wanted to complete the degree I was attending GCU for. I talked with my financial advisor and she stated that I would have to take 2 more courses in order to leave the college free and clear. So trusting my financial advisor... I took those classes. So come to find out the information in one of my class was extrememly familiar. I realized I had already taken the class and passed it with a B... called her immediately, no worries its my mistake and it will be removed from your account she says. Ok all is fair. The college is still trying to make me pay $1375.20 for this course I was enrolled into twice. I was in this class for a day!

The additional course I was in, I ran into some problems completing the practicum hours. I communicated the issues with my "facilitator"/instructor, she stated my reasoning did not meet the requirements of the extension that could be given. HELLO... if the school Im interning at wont allow me to go until further notice... then I cant go! What am I supposed to do... NO HELP! I would have to retake the course. "But you already did all the assignments and received good grades so just resubmit your assignments when you retake the course and then you just have to focus on the hours that need to be completed" she says. I finished on 12/5/2010, turned all that I had, and thought I was free and clear to leave the school.

So months and months pass... it has now been 6... I get a call from my newest academic counselor and financial counselor. We need to get you back into classes. Long story short... my unprofessional academic counselor never removed that course I was double booked for... AND GET THIS... I never had to take those addtional courses she stated I had to take. I was free and clear to leave when I wanted to. So what this did now is put me into a new payment period for the academic year. I asked for an itemized statement of my charges... weeks went by and I received nothing from my financial aid counselor. Finally get it because I called and tore someones head off over the phone that had zero knowledge of my situation.

Ok... so moving on, because I only completed 4 credits of that academic period supposedly the university had to return all of my financial aid (SUB and UNSUB loans/PELL) for the entire academic year. They are now say I owe them $12, 000 and I have 1 day to get back into classes or it will be sent to collection with 30% interest sum attached to it. I have checked my loans and PELL grats through NSLDS.ed.gov and there has not been a cent returned. My options are to come back and take classes at this crappy university or owe them this money. Thats all they had to offer me, when I never should have had to take those classes and it was their academic advisors fault. I stated I want to take to the advisor I had to straighten this mess out... GET THIS she no longer works there, the college had to let her go. Everything that I told them... some matched up and some didnt because she took in adquate notes.

I asked to get the money back they supposedly sent back to cover my courses. The cannot do this because I am now labeled at inactive student... but I wasnt at the time that money was awarded?!?! The labeled my as a withdrawn student as of 12/5/10 but never processed my varifaction letter until 12/8/10. I have proof I emailed that varification letter to my financial advisor 10/18/2010.

I NEED A LAWYER! I know I have rights as a students somewhere!~~NEVER AGAIN~~~NEVER AGAIN will I take online courses from an out of state college!

I attended Grand Canyon Universities MBA program and received Federal Financial Aid. The last semester I was enrolled at the college I was scheduled to graduate in the middle of it. The schedule was to take two classes per semester. In October 2010 I completed the program and Graduated, I was not required to take the second class in that semester to graduate. The whole time I was in my last class I had noticed that my account had a credit for $1612.31. I called GCU financial aid department to inquire about the credit. They did not understand why I had the credit and said they would look into to it and contact me. Several weeks went by and no one contacted however all of a sudden I received a check for the $1612.31. I cashed it and used it thinking that was my money. Upon completion of my last class I filed my graduation application and sent the required fee of $200. It said I would receive my diploma in eight weeks. Nine weeks went by and I did not get the diploma so I called and they informed me I owed the college $1612.31. I asked why and they told me that I was not eligible to get that money. They said that it was sent back since I only took one class in my final semester. They told me that the money was credited back to my loan and this fact I was able to verify. The issue is that I have is that the check was sent to me and my assumption was that I could use these funds. I had received several refund checks while enrolled in the school and I had never had any problems. The money is gone and now I do not have the ability to repay it to the school. I went through four different financial aid workers while I was enrolled and it seems like no one knows what is going on at the financial aid department. On this issue I have talked with several people, including a supervisor. Everyone tells me something different and I have spent several hours on the phones attempting to solve this problem. I have done some investigating about the schools financial aid office and it seems like many similar issues happen to other students. I am hoping that maybe what has happened to me and the other students can be prevented. The department feels that it is my responsibility and I feel that I am not a financial aid expert. I was that schools client, and as the client I was relying on professional advisement which I did not get. This problem cannot be solved with the financial aid department and I feel that this school has taken advantage of me along with many other students.

Hello fellow GCU victims,
My name is Mike Ashley and I am unfortunately an online student of GCU. I have been on the bad end of the stick with them for a while now and I have contacted the Phoenix board of education, board of higher education, the US board of education, the accreditation company for GCU and the Inspector Generals office concerning my troubles with GCU. It seems that their are ZERO governing bodies to reside over GCU or any private college. I was told that they might have a local board but that the board could very well be comprised of the people who own the university. I believe they would be the very Apollo Group that has made this adventure a complete cluster-### already.
We have been treated like garbage, ignored, lied to and worst of all...they have our blind government behind them in black balling us all to pay them regardless of their offenses. By standing Idol and ignorant of our cries, they are helping in our demise.
If we have to force a class action lawsuit, we will all need to band together to convince an attorney firm to represent us.
Please contact me when you receive this message. My private e-mail is [protected]@live.com. I need your help in determining my options if their are any. We all need to band together to take these ### down.
Thank you for your time and input.
Mike Ashley

I am not surprised to see Grand Canyon with complaints here. I have been attending GCU since 2007. The school lost a scholarship application for transferring to the school, mishandled my loan money, to name a few things. Having been assigned several different academic and financial advisers, it is impossible to get any of them to return a phone call. So here are my problems and I hope people look at other colleges. 1. Lost the paperwork for a transfer scholarship though they did receive another piece of paper that was with the scholarship paperwork. Lost 2000 dollars. Next was a class I needed to take was not available for 3 times that I enrolled in the class. The academic adviser ignored emails and phone calls. Took 3 months to work this through and was never actually resolved. The last is the best because I was invoiced for 2610.00 dollars with no explanation plus I was suppose to graduate but the school took credits away and I cannot get anyone on the phone to speak with me about this and what I need to do. Don't attend this school. It is a waste of time.