Grand Canyon University [GCU]
Reviews and Complaints

Grand Canyon university I would not recommend l! I had loans to post in October but never seen my pell grant post do I called my counselor several times and he kept telling me everything was ok my pell was on the way! Last week I found out I was missing a updated fasfa. He should have been told me this! I updated my fasfa and got everything processed and I'm still waiting on my pell grant. You literally have to drag information from these counselors about your aid. I'm looking for another school this is very poor communication and it seems they just don't care! I am constantly checking the portal this is stressful

Like many others here I too had a horrible experience with GCU. I fell ill during my final courses of the program with only 8 credits left, and despite many attempts the school refused to work with me during that time. My adviser was fully unaffected by my pleas for more time to recover from surgery and I was forced to withdraw. Now that I am healthy and able to return the school has "updated the program" and I now need an additional 18 credits (instead of 8) and an additional year, plus the additional thousand of dollars to complete. I was told I could either comply with their demands or forfeit the thousands of dollars and time I have already dedicated to this program. For any organization, much less a faith based one to gouge people in this way is truly disappointing.

Gcu

When I enrolled in GCU I was as all students do shopping around for the best fit. GCU offered me 56 credits to transfer in 3 years ago. First I was told my last 3 classes and tuition fees to the school had to be paid out of pocket because I've run out of Aid and I was skeptical being I only used a part of the funds to bu a laptop and a camera for my digital film package not to mention extra charges for textbooks and class accessing for online textbooks but I agreed to pay the additional $7000 out of pocket in payments just to finish my degree. I am now 2 classes away and $2000 out of pocket from walking the stage and They have added 3 completely unrelated to my program classes on to my program without even informing me and when I questioned it they came back with " upon there review I was accidentally transferred in to many credits from
Their associate upon enrollment 3 years ago. They then proceeded to send me alternative loan links in email with huge financing percentages resulting in me having to obtain an attorney to assist me with this matter. When I told them I have now have legal counsel and I have them 3 choices:
1. I will take 3 additional classes but they will pay for them and they will change the classes to be relevant to me and my field of study.
2. They will repay financial aid and my out of pocket all the money and I will start over elsewhere before paying them another dime. A very sincere desperate option but one I would prefer over their blackmale
3. Give me my credits they ensured me and allow me to walk the stage as agreed.

There was response from my counselor who I must say must have been the 30th change of counselors since I started replied with " I have sent your email to the legal department."
Since then not a word nothing and now I have to have a lawyer proceed thru this to help me out of this mess as they are jeopardizing my standing with the department of education, my current loan deferment, and my ability to receive my degree through their blackmail.
Attached is an email from enrollment in 2016 and one from last week.

I have been attending GCU since 2011 and was able to maintain my GPA and degree for the past 8 years. Since I did not get the support I needed during my doctoral degree I had to drop out. My academic adviser was inconsistent with the information she gave regarding instructors, GPA's and academic probation. The instructors who graded my work gave no insight on how to better my grades. There were no resources for the doctoral degree to help me improve my writing skills. I would have benefited from 1-1 contact or someone I could actually talk to who would help guide me through my work. The course work would take days to complete and then I would get a D or F as a grade. I begged my adviser for help and ways to problem solve so I didn't have to drop out. I am extremely disappointment in the doctoral program at GCU.
I am getting a ton of voice calls now that I owe money!

Well my financial aid came in and they charge me 5958 my loans came in 9500 plus 2887 plus 1900 gcu retention they send me a stipend of 1629 when was supposed to be 8329. I recommend getting a lawyer when you see this when I call the counselor she told me oh I'll check and I told her nothing to check 4 years [protected] loan plus 2887 pell and 1900 gcu retention and charge 5958 and send stipend 1629.

Non credit doctoral continuation classes for 7 years. I've been working on my dissertation for 10 years. I was supposed to be done long ago. But I had 4 different chairs, that had different ideas of how I should complete my dissertation during credit and non credit classes. I was continually led on about being close to completion by all 4. Grand Canyon needs to be stopped from leading students on. Please contact me at [protected]@live.com. Thanks

I notified the school I had not received my tuition reimbursement on multiple occasions. They finally recut the check. I again notified them a week later I had not received the check. They said I had to wait 9 days. Upon waiting more days I still had not received over 3, 054 check. I notified again. This time someone had forged my signature. Had to ask for it to be filed as fraud. Now the school refuses to give me any updates to move the situation along. They will not give me anyone's Information aside from one school person to talk to. She won't provide me any information or follow up. She only tells me to call the bank who cannot talk to me because I'm just the payee. The institution is the claimant. I have all of the emails as evidence. I've done everything in my power and the school refuses to give me any information on the money that they took from the federal government and refuse to release or give me any information on.

They told me they were accredited in SC and they were not. I didn't know until the week I started the classes and when I found out I immediately called. And since I had finished the week's school work, they would not let me unenroll without charging me 900$. They told me they'd drop the charge and then they went back on their word. It was unfair. They enroll students and then lie to us and when we can't use our degrees it's "on us" SC is not included in their regional accreditation and they told me they were fully accredited in SC. It was a LIE... they need to be shut down!

During the doctoral stage, the dissertation chair/professor has 14 days to respond to the student regarding any changes to be made and progress on the working document. The assigned professor will wait until the 14th day to respond or later then 14 days up to three weeks one time to respond to the said student. This delays the gradation date and further completion of the dissertation. After financial aid runs out past the graduation date, the student is then required to take continuation classes paid out of pocket to complete the dissertation.
This is the method that GCU uses I believe to delay graduation and gain further funds into their pocket. They should have professors assigned fewer papers to read so that reponses can be quicker say one week. I have contacted the counselor several times and the only response is the 14 day turn around. I am in my second doctoral course and already the professor has missed 2 turn around dates, past the 14 days.

Hey,
So I started school Sept 19th. my counselor called me towards the end of September (around the 26th) and told me to look out for my stipend. I waited and then called the school because I felt like I should have received it by now. The other day I called my counselor and was told that my check was mailed on Oct 3rd. It is now Oct 18th and I have not received it. Has anyone ever received their check so late or after the 14day period?

Graduate program is great, until the dissertation portion. It is clear that GCU wants to string its students along for the financial benefit of the university instead of assisting students. Adjunct faculty are provided for the dissertation process and that piece of the faculty doesn't know about GCU or dissertation writing. I took 16 weeks of classes to get someone who said they read my dissertation draft. they said I was 'on my way.' When I asked for specific feedback, it was clear that they had not read the document and knew very little or nothing about k-12 education as had been promised to me. After complaining I was provided with a second, and then a third unknowledgeable chair for my dissertation. Each taking two to three weeks to pretend to read my work. The only consistent thing about GCU is the demand and calls for money...

I am a freshman 2019, I arrived at GCU full of good expectations since this university boasts a lot of its Christian values, the safe environment and the brotherhood. This happens only if you are white. I am Mexican and since I arrived I suffered discrimination and I was left alone. my roommate took out his mattress and his things for not wanting to be with me, I made fun of my accent when speaking English and nobody cared. It's a lie that leaders and counselors care. CGU just wants to be paid all semester. Notify the month of being there that I do not want to be alone, depressed and relegated and that I would go back to my state. They don't care and I find it unfair to pay for the entire semester if I'm not going to attend. I don't see the help and compassion that GCU and its community claim to have.
If you are Latino, DO NOT GO THERE.

Non transferrable credits
Lie to get your financial aide. They allow you to use your financial aide even if you can't attain a degree.
Reps. Who give wrong information after you signed the dotted line..have no knowledge of what you are signing when it comes to aide. They screw they government as well by putting students in financial harm to loans you can never pay back b/c of education that you can't achieve through this institution. They lie. And use scare tactics when you need time off from school. As a online student, my bill to the dept is the same as a on campus student. They got me good and now i cant move on. Untransferrable credits they lied about. I tried contacting some one no return calls after 1 conversation.
Financial aide mill is what they are.

Grand Canyon doctorates Program is was sold to me when I was told that at the end of the program I would have completed my course work. This was not the case. We were required to go to the Grand Canyon to work on our dissertation but when assigned a chairperson there is always something wrong with the work done at residence. If you sat out a semester you would be assigned another chair that changed your previous chair approval drastically

I provide freelance editing and writing services for student nurses pursuing doctoral degrees, and I have worked with many students from a variety of traditional and online university DNP programs. I have also been an adjunct instructor at several traditional universities and continue to provide writing services to medical, dental and nursing programs across the country. Over the past few years, I have received an overwhelming number of students from Grand Canyon University who have been unable to complete their DNP degrees because they cannot get their final papers approved. These students all tell the same story: they are given inadequate, contradictory, and irresponsible advising and instruction in the requirements for their projects and final papers; they have a series of advisors and reviewers, with no consistency between them, who contradict each other (and sometimes even themselves) in their recommendations and who then blame the students for not understanding the process; they are required to pay for additional extension courses every time their paper is not deemed "ready for the dean's review, " so that many of the students have taken 3 or 4 of these courses by the time they come to me for help; they are strung along in what seems to be a scam designed to get them to pay for additional courses with no intention of actually helping the students or approving their papers on a timely basis; and their approach to students is condescending and borderline abusive. I have heard this so often, and witnessed the condescension and contradictory advice given (in writing, no less) so frequently, that I feel I must alert people who are considering enrolling in the DNP program at GCU. While I can't speak for GCU as a whole, I can confidently say that the DNP program, its instructors, and particularly its advisors, are not ethical or responsible. Their goal appears to be to engage students in a never-ending series of revisions that are often unnecessary, that change from week to week, and that are often minor and even nonsensical (for example, changing every verb in the paper to past tense, even when introducing an upcoming chapter). From an editor's standpoint, most of the advisors seem to have a poor grasp of grammar, sentence structure, verb tense, etc., and their feedback on student papers shows their ignorance. They are especially condescending when working with non-native English speakers. One last point: I have edited so many GCU DNP papers that I have literally seen papers that were objectively worse receiving approval before papers that were considerably better. There is no consistency and no set standard; it all appears to be arbitrary and is probably a matter of luck based on the reviewers/advisors the student happens to be assigned along the way. Some appear to be more ethical and knowledgeable than others. So please be warned: If you choose to enroll in the DNP program, be prepared to spend extra money on extension courses and private editing services, and be aware that you will not be treated with respect during the process. These people are not there to help students; they are there to string them along to prolong the approval process, likely to ensure they pay for additional courses. They disguise this fact by pretending that they have high academic standards; however, the large number of papers I have seen directly contradicts this assertion, as many subpar papers are approved before considerably better papers. Overall, I suggest getting your DNP degree elsewhere. There are plenty of programs out there. The fact that I make a good portion of my editing income off of GCU DNP students should tell you something. I realize I am negatively impacting my own business by calling attention to this program, but I am so disturbed and outraged by their abuse of students that I think it is more important to speak out right now. I just can't stomach the way these students are being treated.

Coursework and support were not sufficient and I was not allowed to finish the program on a timely basis. Basically the same as described at www.grandcanyonuniversitylawsuits.com in the Carr case, which may be a class action for doctoral candidates. Grand Canyon University is all about the profits, not about looking out for students. I do not recommend.

This week I received overwhelming news about my course work at GCU as I was trying to get certified for a leadership license. At the point of trying to get my certification form completed, I was told that my degree didn't meet the requirements. I was shocked and livid. This was said nonchalantly and without care. I tried to get assistance from so many staff at GCU but no one was willing to help. They wouldn't even waive or substitute their own classes for another one of their programs to help get me certified. I am so disappointed in GCU because I honored my academic experience until now. I will not be able to give positive feedback to anyone about this University ever again.

I am a student at GCU at the time but I have a mental health issue and I'm trying to get out of it and tell him I can't complete the course but they're saying that I have to go thru student forgiveness. Well I got this letter the other day Sam I'm on a GPA deficiency suspension or something so I was like okay whatever how do I get out of not finishing through the school the school is a joke I have mental health problems and suffer from PTSD depression m learning disability I would rather get something for my learnnng disability I can't go thru with GCU I'm going thru a mental breakdown right now n they don't help much or communicate much

On my student ledger account, it says my stipend was posted on may 16, 2019. It has been almost 2 weeks and I still haven't gotten anything. I can't seem to get an answer from anything and this has been frustrating. I feel as though i'm being lied too and no one is telling me the truth. I never had this issue before because in the past i've gotten the stipend check within 4 days. I have bills to pay and can't keep waiting.

On my student portal account it says my Stipend check was sent off on the 16th and it's been well over a week and nothing has came yet. I've tried to talk with my counselor and he keeps saying they have the correct address and it was sent off on the 16th. Talking with others they have had the same problem. So either GCU is lying and it was not sent off or something is wrong. I have never had this problem before when I got a Stipend check before because it normally took only a few days and now it's been over a week. I'm in CA and GCU is in Phoenix and it should not be this long especially since Phoenix is close to CA and since it says you guys sent it off on the 16th. I want the truth and solid answers