Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
UPDATE:
- A judge dismissed this case Dec. 19, 2019.
A Grand Canyon University student has filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the private, for-profit school deceptively markets the value and nature of its professional programs by misleading its students to think it has accreditation that it does not.
Additionally, the students argue that the university further misrepresents itself to students by taking out loans for students without their knowledge or consent.
The Grand Canyon University accreditation class action lawsuit was filed by Katie Ogdon who signed up for Grand Canyon University Master of Science in Psychology with an emphasis in Health Psychology program.
Ogdon says she did this because she was told that the program was a suitable way to reach her intended career.
However, she claims to have later discovered that the school did not have the appropriate accreditation to allow her to qualify for licensure as a mental health therapist in California, as she had intended.
Allegedly, the school uses “advisors” who market unaccredited professional programs to students. Ogdon states that these advisors recommend that students take classes that will not allow them to quality for licensure.
According to Ogdon, the school enrolls thousands of students per year in unaccredited programs. She notes that primarily, these students aim to pursue careers in the healthcare and educational fields.
The Grand Canyon University accreditation class action lawsuit states that Ogdon and many other students are financially injured by this practice, because they are effectively tricked into paying for education that is useless.
She states that no student would knowingly enroll in a professional degree program only to obtain a degree that is not accepted.
The plaintiff further stresses that this scheme prohibits students from transferring their coursework to an other institution — one with an accredited program — because an accredited program will not accept Grand Canyon University course credits.
The Grand Canyon University accreditation class action lawsuit states that GCU systematically puts profits ahead of its students best interest.
She notes that the school is a for-profit university, but argues that the school tricks students into thinking it is non-profit because of how GCE, Grand Canyon’s educational services business, was strategically distanced from the school.
The Grand Canyon University accreditation class action lawsuit contests that the school’s profitability relies on the low quality of the education provided which prevents the school from proving the accredited programs sought by many professionals.
Ogdon explains that the school hires low-quality professors and pays them a low wage, often on a part-time basis.
She asserts that the school spends only 15 percent of its revenue on faculty salaries, whereas most four-year accredited universities spend around 70 percent of revenue on faculty salaries.
The school is allegedly lacking in training and support for these underpaid professors and doles out substandard educational materials to students.
Allegedly, these elements make the program profitable for the school, but prevent it from meeting the standards necessary for accreditation.
The Grand Canyon University tuition class action lawsuit then goes on to say that the school intentionally keeps students in the dark about the nature of their education in other ways. The also school perpetuates this scheme through information misleadingly presented by the school “advisors.”
Additionally, Ogden says that the school is mostly funded by the tuition of students gained through student loan programs.
She argues that this means that the federal government is “wasting hundreds of millions of dollars each year of unaccredited degree programs which do not advance students or their professional careers.”
Ogdon notes that many students at Grand Canyon are online students, explaining that the school gains a significant portion of its revenue from these students.
School representatives are reportedly told to recruit students by glossing over the school’s method for procuring student loans to pay for a Grand Canyon University tuition. Specifically, Ogden says that the representatives do not explain that the school takes out loans on their behalf, nor do they tell them the amount of the loans.
Allegedly, the school relies on the fact that that most student loan payments are not due until after a student has graduated, so many students at Grand Canyon University complete their studies before they realize that they are in thousands of dollars in debt without their previous knowledge.
These allegations are not the first launched against Grand Canyon University over misleading marketing tactics.
If you pursued higher education, how did you choose your educational institution? Share your experiences in the comments below.
Ogdon is represented by Annick Persinger, Hassan A. Zavareei, and Kristen G. Simplicio of Tycko & Zavareei LLP.
The Grand Canyon University Accreditation Class Action Lawsuit is Katie Ogdon v. Grand Canyon University Inc., et al., Case No. 1:20-at-00363, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
61 thoughts onGrand Canyon University Class Action Alleges Accreditation Scam
Count me in! I was mislead in the beginning that the MS in professional counseling was accredited by CACREP standards but it is not!
I’m going through this now. I obtained my MS in Professional Counseling with an emphasis in Childhood and Adolescence Disorders in February 2021. Each course syllabus and within the online platform stated it met CACREP standards. Fast forward to now when I am trying to obtain my license in Kansas which I have been trying to do since July, and the KS BSRB is telling me that we were not CACREP accredited and requiring that I jump through hoops throughout this licensing process that may not even happen after I spent over $100,000 on this degree.
I had the same thing happen. I do not know who to reach out to at this point. I am recently retired but was only able to work with a Masters level degree. I could not get licensed. I have over 125,000 in Student debt and need help.
Please include me in this class action suit-the same thing happened to us.
I would like to be added to this lawsuit. I am a victim of bait and switch, when I enrolled in the program for Masters of Science in professional counseling not once did they notify me that they were discontinuing this program in 2021 and I’m being told that I need to enroll in another program and my credits may or may not be accepted in the new program and I only had one more year to graduate and my academic counselor told me I would have to start all over! All that time, money, and effort for nothing! I am do upset and looking for another Online University and I’m either told some credits may transfer but it’s like starting all over again. It’s caused me stress, anxiety, embarrassment, depression, and debt I will have to pay for student loans! Help!
I am currently enrolled and have been lied to, and have tons of emails and essays with proof of incompetence and lies. I had been looking into an attorney but I would love to speak with you and this group to see if it would be prudent to join together in lieu of starting my own case.
I would like to be included in this lawsuit if it is still open, or if anyone else is attempting to sue. I attended GCU online for my Master’s in Public Health, and asked specifically if this degree was accredited and if I needed any additional training to have a career in public health. I was unsure about what career path I wanted to do, but my advisor assured me whatever it was, this degree would suffice. I feel so embarrassed that I did not check into it further, because not only did I trust her, but I have a disability.
Once I found out it was not accredited (3/4 done), I emailed my advisor immediately. I was told that GCU was accredited before, and requirements have changed, so we are just filling out the paperwork and waiting for the agency to look it over and approve it- indicating that they had been approved before, but with some minor changes to the application process/requirements, they had to “reapply and wait”. I am fuming. This degree added so much debt to my already high student loans. Please contact me if the lawsuit is attempted again.
I want to be included. My mom had gone through one of their accredited programs, so I figured it was safe. As somebody with an MA in Political Science, and primarily focused on public policy, I should’ve known better. That said, I chose to enroll at a time I wasn’t thinking straight. I had enrolled to escape an emotionally abusive working environment that I had started a year earlier. I wasn’t happy in my field & felt I wanted to start clinical mental health counseling. I still can & I’m fortunate I only took three courses, but still. That’s debt I didn’t need & they put CACREP standards on their assignments and I fell for it. Please email me at clostrowski@outlook.com. I am likely withdrawing as soon as possible.
I have been searching complaints to see if I was the only one dealing with this scam of a college and it looks like there are many like me. I really want to see this university investigated. I have have documents that prove they took my federal loan money when I wasn’t even attending school. They also misled me all the way up until my internship/practicum about being accredited and failed to assist in the intern field search process. After they screw you over they then post a balance to your account to keep you locked into your program because you can’t request your transcript. These are crooks. There’s no way I could have had a balance because I wasn’t enrolled in courses and my prior balance from the semester I finished was paid in full by financial aid.
attended this school since January 2019 and I’ve taken a medical leave one semester which I didn’t take any courses. What I have recently learned is the school has not been sending a lot of my unused loans back to the dept of education. I was scheduled to finish school in October but instead I doubled classes which put me on track to finsh in May but then they wouldn’t assist with locating a practicum site so I never finished. Even though I never finished they kept over $21,000 in federal loans for the semesters I didn’t take any courses. My account balance went from $80 to $2500 and I wasn’t even in school. They don’t allow you to speak with anyone in accounting and all correspondence is from a advisor. This school is definitely running some fraudulent practices and I’m hoping they get shut down. It’s just ridiculous that they’re stealing from students. They sent back only 2000$ and turned around and added it to my account. I haven’t taken classes so where are the charges from?
I just found out I was lied to by GCU, all the classes ive taken are NOT CACREP accredited. I’m heart broken, at a loss for words. I literally have to start my entire Masters degree over. Ive lost thousands of dollars and over a year of my life. I cannot take any licensing exams in my field of Clinical Mental health counseling without CACREP accreditation corse work. How can they get away with this?? It cannot be legal. I was told 100% my master’s degree is CACREP accredited. What happened?? How can a Christian school be so evil? Lie, cheat and steel from students. I’m not sure I have enough funding to complete my masters degree…
Wow! I’m saddened to read these stories as I am a Graduate student for GCU. They said they are compatible with Virginia Department of Education. I really like the arrangement of Master’s Studies. However, now I’m feeling disparaging thoughts! I’m gonna send VDOE. The courses I’ve taken this far just to see if they’ll accept them before I go any further.
S.Asirifi, N.N., VA