Grand Canyon University [GCU] review: fin aid/scholarship scam 4

My complaints with Grand Canyon deal with 1) what I perceive as false advertising/bait & switch regarding an academic scholarship and 2) sketchy tactics regarding financial aid 3) Dwindling and difficult communication once you are 'in the system'.

1: When I was shopping around for graduate schools, I chose Grand Canyon University partly because the enrollment counselor was so attentive and available. She was great to talk to, quick to respond to inquiries and made what could be a cumbersome enrollment process easy to follow and understand. Possibly my guard was down since I thought this was supposed to be a 'Christian' University. Big mistake on my part. Now I am not saying my enrollment counselor intentionally mislead me, perhaps she didn't fully understand the information she was tasked with presenting, but what she described to me in terms of a scholarship is NOT what I am now being told.

My enrollment counselor did say there was a $500 scholarship for enrolling in the program by a certain date which I did receive. (Well, you don't really receive it...it is taken out of or applied to your tuition.) However, what I really was interested in was the academic scholarship she described. She said that for every 24 credit hours completed above a certain GPA, that students will receive a $1000 scholarship. Once my first 24 credit hours was complete, I began inquiring about this and I have all my emails showing that I did so. I was passed from the academic counselor back to the financial counselor and no one could tell me when this would actually apply. However, EVERYONE assured me that with my 4.o met the requirements, I qualified. I have one email from a financial counselor that actually says that my scholarship was in the process of posting. Since I recently completed my coursework, I inquired AGAIN regarding when this scholarship would post. I was told on 2/25 that I do not qualify for this scholarship by the same financial counselor who told me it was in the process of posting. (I received 2 letters in the mail congratulating me for making the Presidential List for Academic Honors.) She now claims that that scholarship was for people who transferred in 24 credits from another institution? Which makes absolutely no sense! This is NOT what I was described because I never would have agreed to it. I wasn't transferring in any graduate credits from anywhere else! I have an email that the enrollment counselor sent me and it references this scholarship that I was promised asking me to refer my friends. No where does in mention transferring in other credits. Interestingly enough the financial aid counselor said that if I have it in writing that I was promised a scholarship, they would go ahead and honor it. How nice of them! I forwarded her my email and have since heard nothing. I am searching my files for additional emails. However, I think this was a scam and they don't want to honor it and the fact that numerous people supposedly 'reviewed' my account and claimed that it would be posting at some point shows that either their own employees don't communicate or understand their programs well or they are just flat out deceptive. I have no intention of recommending Grand Canyon to anyone and am trying to figure out a way to remove my name from their employment database. I had previously applied for a position there but now have no interest in working for them. As soon as I receive my diploma and transcripts, I want to be done with them. BEWARE and get everything in writing before agreeing to anything!
2: My second issue is an ongoing unease with the way they do financial aid. There is no reason that it takes so long to post and why no one can really tell you why the delay or when it will post. I began my last course to complete my Masters in December and just completed it in February. My account still shows a balance due and I am starting to get worried that it will affect my degree being conferred. I have had numerous contacts with my financial counselor asking if I just needed to pay this amount as I still have financial aid left over from my last disbursement check. (This would be different than every other time since my tuition was just taken out of my financial aid every time but I just want to get this settled.) She claims every time that my academic funds have not been released and are in process and that I should NOT go ahead and pay it. Her most recent claim to this was on 2/25. However, my class finished 2/16 and I am not taking any more classes. I have finished my coursework for my degree. It doesn't really make sense that I would have more financial aid coming. She claims that it is still part of this academic year. There is no answer to why this takes 10+ weeks to be settled. There is some sketchy math going on here. Luckily I really only rely on my financial aid for tuition and books and some other academic materials. I will just pay a large portion directly back from previous disbursements. And I do have the $ to pay this tuition if I need to do so. However, I am still concerned about the length of time this balance has been due on my account and that the information I have been receiving is incorrect. BE WARY OF FINANCIAL AID AT THIS INSTITUTION...especially if you need the funds for essentials. (I had a previous complaint regarding $$ that was resolved finally but it also took a lot of time and persistence on my part. Basically I dropped a class and was never refunded nor were the funds applied to another class until I made an issue of it over a fairly long period of time. I feel like they were just going to keep that $$ and then I would have to pay it back in financial aid even though I hadn't taken the course. The lack of answers at that time from someone who was supposed to be a manager was surprising. (BE PERSISTENT WHEN DEALING WITH $$ ISSUES AT THIS INSTITUTION.)
3: My final complaint has to do with communication. When I first enrolled there was constant communication. For my first 2-3 courses, my academic counselor contacted me as did my financial counselor just to check in and make sure I didn't have any questions and see how things were going. However, my academic and financial counselors changed several times since then and no one calls anymore unless I contact them first. As my program of study was winding down and questions about graduation arose, I had to contact GCU to find out what to do and aside from a little postcard I got in the mail, there was no communication instigated by GCU. This is just customer service in my opinion.

Do I recommend GCU? That depends. If you are able to pay out of pocket, you might not have to deal with all of this financial headache that I have had to deal with. My education itself was good but that's because I put a lot into it and did all the outside reading and research. I had some quality instructors...but like others have said...I think most perceive GCU as pretty easy.
If you don't have to get Financial Aid...do not! They are not easy to deal with nor are they timely with their disbursements. As far as scholarships, don't believe what they try to 'sell ' you on to get you to sign up. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING! If you drop a class or are owed any compensation you have to be persistent and document everything! Save your emails!