Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) praised the Department of Education (ED) for legally recognizing Grand Canyon University (GCU) as a Christian nonprofit in a recent post on X.
As GCU explains, the ED did not classify the school as a non-profit in 2019.
It took a 3-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit in September 2024 and a 4-year audit that began in 2021 to reaffirm that GCU does meet the criteria of a non-profit university, which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Higher Learning Commission (HLC), State of Arizona, Arizona Board for Private Postsecondary Education (AZPPSE), and NCAA Athletics had already previously affirmed.
More egregiously, as Rep. Biggs suggested in September 2024, the school was allegedly unfairly targeted by the Biden-Harris Administration with a $37.7 million fine for alleged misconduct related to doctoral program costs, a claim the institution denied and took to court.
Later, in March 2025, Rep. Biggs introduced the Guarding Religious and Career Education (GRACE) Act, which eliminates the Office of Enforcement from the Department of Education, in response to the apparent targeting of faith-based universities, citing a report from the American Principles Project (APP) that suggested that 70% of the Biden-Harris Department of Education's enforcement actions targeted faith-based and career schools despite these institutions representing less than 10% of college students nationwide.
In September of this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) dropped the case against GCU, which Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ) commented, "When Joe Biden wasn't targeting his political opponent or forcing a historic border crisis on everyday Americans, he was targeting the largest Christian university in the country."
With the school recognized as a non-profit again, Biggs expressed in his recent post to X, "This is great news! Gone are the days of a weaponized Department of Education under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Thank you @POTUS and @EDSecMcMahon!"
