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Grand Canyon University

Total Grad Surveys 45
Females 24
Males 21
Avg years at University 1.9
Research Quality B (6.6)
Research Availability B+ (7.5)
Research Funding B+ (7.9)
Graduate Politics B+ (7.7)
Not Errand Runners A- (8.1)
Degree Completion A- (8.3)
Alternative pay [ta/gsi] B- (6.1)
Sufficient Pay B- (6.5)
Competitiveness B+ (7.5)
Education Quality B+ (7.5)
Faculty Accessibility B (7.1)
Useful Research B+ (7.6)
"Individual" treatment B (6.6)
Friendliness B (7.2)
Safety B (6.9)
Campus Beauty B (7.2)
Campus Maintenance B (7.0)
University Spending B (6.7)
Extracurriculars B (6.8)
Scholastic Success B (7.3)
Surrounding City B+ (7.4)
Social Life/ Environment B (6.9)
Alternative pay [ta/gsi]B-
Degree CompletionA-
On July 1, 2008 Brian Mueller (Previously ofMar 25 2021Psychology
On July 1, 2008 Brian Mueller (Previously of University of Phoenix [UOP]) became president of Grand Canyon University (GCU), the results of his leadership at UOP are chilling, from violations of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to violations of the False Claims Act (Lincoln Law)! UOP was still fighting many of these lawsuits as late at 2019. There is NO doubt about the ethical standards of Brian Mueller and his teamas GCU, NO ONE at GCU is innocent, they are all Criminals! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Phoenix...Come see us on Facebook at Grand Canyon University-Scam! for more information.
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My classmates in my online classes cannot formMay 27 2020Religion/Religious
My classmates in my online classes cannot form coherent sentences or coherent paragraphs. There are many spelling mistakes, run on sentences and sentence fragments. I suspect that students at other for-profit open enrollment colleges have the same problem. My professor is unhelpful. She avoids giving straight forward answers to student questions. Instead, she forces students to go hunting for the answers to their questions even though students have no idea where to look for the relevant information
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Instructors do not followJan 14 2020Other
Instructors do not follow university rules. The university doesn't care. Instructors have carte blance where students are concerned. The faculty specialist group tends to side with instructors. Students get no justice.
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Nepotism within the departmentOct 14 2018Psychology
Nepotism within the department. Their are some instructors who do not grade on time. There is simply no due process. They are not APA accreditation. This is a crap degree with a huge cost. Do not waste your time pursuing a PhD at GCU. I literally had a professor from Northwestern laugh in my face when I said what school I was attending. I have never been more humiliated before.
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I am trying to complete my Masters ofMar 09 2018Other
I am trying to complete my Masters of Healthcare Informatics degree, and this is supposed to be my last course. but I may have to drop it because the "instructor" is terrible, and refuses to even follow the written policies of the school....

She is a PHD, and tha makes her feel superior to her lowly students, so she keeps changing the curriculum to her personal standards, but gets annoyed when you try to get a clear view of what she wants, until after you have submitted your work, and she FINALLY gets around to posting your grades. Then, after ruining your grade, she will include smarmy little comments explaining why she gave you such low marks. The problem is that she is too late for yout o learn what to do, if she only tells you after you have already failed. She refuses to respond to inquiries from students within the required 48 hour time frame, and only responds to questions when she get around to it, which is also usually too late for your grade. Of course, she graded everything fairly the first week of class, mainly because she knows that after the first week, you can no longer drop the class, without having to pay out of pocket to take it again. This is a trend among bad "instructors" at GCU, they always wait until they think you are trapped in their class, to show their true colors, and it is infuriating. At almost EVERY other institution of learning, you can withdraw from a class up until it is halfway finished, but for whatever pointless reason, GCU won't let you get out after a single week. If you are an online student, like I am, you have almost ZERO means to get in contact with the University, except through your Student Services Advisor, who is mostly useless, and unable to assist at all, except to suggest contacting the "instructor", which is almost guaranteed to be a waste of time and effort as they have already decided how they are going to "teach", and that is that.

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My experience is a very positive one, bothAug 23 2017Nursing
My experience is a very positive one, both BSN AND MSN. I love ALL GCU instructors (extremely helpful, kind and very knowledgeable). I HIGHLY recommend this university to anyone wants to do online BSN, MSN. All instructors are very friendly, helpful and I really want to meet all of them outside. My two daughters are nurses and I encourage them to continue MSN through GCU. I am so glad I found this great university.
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Research Topic(s): Fall and death
GCU is a great schoolFeb 16 2017Nursing
GCU is a great school. Instructors are very kind, helpful and always positive to me no matter what problem I encountered. GCU supportive staffs are excellent and extremely helpful. No one EVER hung up their phone before you. Cost are not bad at all compared to many other colleges and universities. Everyone (staffs and instructors) are very professional and extremely helpful. I received BSN and doing MSN at this time (4 more courses to complete). I am very happy with GCU. Great university!KTruong1
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Research Topic(s): EBP
Friendly and VERY HELPFUL instructorsJan 19 2017Nursing
Friendly and VERY HELPFUL instructors. Great Nursing online study. Great SBN and MSN program for working nurses. Instructors are there to help you in every way. I received my BSN and working on my MSN right now (4 more classes to complete:)). I LOVE all my instructors. Special THANKS to Dr Cheryl William, Dr Amofa K. Dr Naser D., Dr Nora, and who else ? They all are excellent. Some names I forgot but ALL my instructors are GREAT. I am surprised there were some negative comments about GCU. Cost is low compare to many other University, very supportive instructors and friendly online students, what else do I need?
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I would NEVER recommendSep 25 2016Psychology
I would NEVER recommend this school to anyone, they lack ethical standards, and do not apply any form of religion to their assignments. I was very disappointed in the end, not too mention they have the audacity to CHARGE your diploma, the diploma that you spent more than $50,000 on!!
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I am currently in MSN program and finishingDec 18 2015Nursing
I am currently in MSN program and finishing 2nd course. So far my professors are great. Dr Cheryl William is GREAT, helpful and very friendly. Dr Nora Hamilton such also GREAT teacher. She is very helpful, kind, friendly and supportive. She checks our posts and adds comments so we all can learn new things every day. I am so glad I chose GCU to complete MSN.
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I received my Masters' from GCU and feltDec 06 2015Education
I received my Masters' from GCU and felt that the curriculum was very structured and applicable. You had to practice good time management and organizational skills in order to succeed. The professors were very easy to talk to and very helpful, with inquiry. I graduate with a 4.0 GPA, but I had to work for it. I am now working toward my Doctoral degree at GCU. Again, this program is very structured and requires 20-25 hours of research and writing per week in order to be successful. Grand Canyon University is a GREAT school!
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I really enjoyed going to GCUJun 26 2015Public Policy
I really enjoyed going to GCU. I went to EMU for my bachelors. I like the staff and it was a lot of hardwork getting my MPA, because I did the work.. I don't really get all the bad reviews that GCU is getting. College is a weed out process. It is suppose to have alot of obstacles and make you feel unsure, its all apart of the learning process, and the prestige of finsihing college. If it were really easy, you wouldn't appreciate the pitfalls and set backs, or the eventual triumph. It has to be somewhat hard. So, for all those who didn't make it, good luck! For those who did make it, good job! And that is life!
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This school offers the Masters program on-line toApr 14 2015Nursing
This school offers the Masters program on-line to out of state students. After two years of intense study you are required to complete 500 hours of clinical residency but they do not help you find a hospital for that residency and they are so slow getting contracts approved that you may be delayed in you graduation date or you may have to travel several hundred miles to get to your residency. Beware of this program. Myself and four other students out of 12 have been unable to successfully get approved for residency thus possibly delaying our graduation. Some of us will have to move to other states in order eventually graduate.
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I tried for an online PhDApr 03 2015Psychology
I tried for an online PhD. Withrdrew before completing first class. Look it up online -- there is NO Faculty Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics. There is no student grievance process. The only process they have is for Title IX (sexual complaints) because that is the fed law if they want to be eligible for funding. My instructor was, I think, starting to suffer from dementia. He was strange -- but there was no way to voice a concern or elevate any problems. PhD in psychology program has also never graduated an online student. Look online, the board is all white male -- not a problem in itself, but indicative of the culture (most university leadership at least has token diversity). Arrogant; avoid at all costs.
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I just withdrew from GCUMar 29 2015Education
I just withdrew from GCU. I was there for a year as an Organizational doctoral student. I had two of the worst professors I have ever had in my life there. Both told me I would never graduate. I felt that either GCU was admitting students just for the money and telling the faculty to dump them down the road, or the students were sub par and GCU was just admitting with no intention of graduating them. I decided to go to another school that admitted me as well. This school also has scholarships, they are a little more than GCU but the scholarships bring the price down to the level of that that GCU promised. GCU said they were the cheapest now I see they are not. Not to mention that residency in AZ that they claim financial aid pays for-guess what it doesn't pay for all of it, so that's like 5,000 a year because you have to attend three. So is GCU really cheaper. Also they are told to push the loans on the students and not even talk about grants or other funding. I feel they should do more to find funding for the students.also the professors are not consistent and they don't follow the rubric, they rarely provide helpful comments. I had one that didn't know how a research paper was written.
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I have graduated from GCU with a MBA & MNov 12 2014Business - Management and Administration
I have graduated from GCU with a MBA & M.Ed. I was happy with the format, however I should have realized that there may be a problem when I wasn't permitted to attain my teaching license since Wisconsin doesn't allow out of state colleges to award a license with within Wisconsin. The college has to be approved first, and GCU isn't.

I decided to continue for my Doctorate in Business Management. I started this 4 years ago. I am still working on my 10 point strategy plan. They tell you "You have the keys to your bus" meaning you plan the dissertation, and they will help you. Absolute lie. You make the 10 points, and have it approved with the IRB, BUT then they will ask you to make changes, in which the other IRB members will refuse. So you will start over... and over... and over. Each time having the 10 points approved, but then asked to have it change (to make it interesting, or more original) and then have it refuse. My word of advice, DO NOT GO TO GCU!!!!! You can't get out! The credits don't transfer, and you have to stay in, or pay the $120,000 student loan back, which you can't until you graduate, but you can't graduate until they approve your dissertation, which they won't. So you will always have this debt, and then can't go elsewhere. I would be willing to agree to joining a civil case against them for malpractice.

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Grand Canyon University has been an excellent choiceAug 09 2014Business - Management and Administration
Grand Canyon University has been an excellent choice for me as a way to expand my academic knowledge in both leadership and emergency management. I am a veteran and fall under Military advisement department and they have been very supportive and outstanding. The classes have been challenging and force creative thinking for the real world application.Eric
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I have graduated withMar 29 2014Business - Management and Administration
I have graduated with my Masters of Health Administration, and landed a position within a top tier hospital within two months. The education was phenomenal and the amount of time I spent doing the EBP was well worth the experience.
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Research Topic(s): The gap of the American Indian within Healthcare
I am surprised at the negative commentsMar 20 2014Nursing
I am surprised at the negative comments. I will complete my MSN in May of 2014. I have had nothing but positive experiences with GCU. My initial academic counselor was less than responsive. GCU removed her and assigned me a new counselor who has been nothing but responsive and helpful. Some instructors were less helpful, but you get that at every University. Reading all the negative responses reinforces why a person must always hear both sides of the story.
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Great school!Feb 10 2014Business - Management and Administration
Great school! I cannot believe all of the negative feedback in this forum! I have noticed that those posting negative thoughts cannot spell or write properly. Maybe that is a reason they struggled at GCU.

I earned my undergrad (B.S. in Finance and Economics) at GCU and am currently enrolled in the MBA program. I have taken many classes online and on campus. The faculty has always been very helpful and outgoing. The curriculum is challenging but anyone can succeed if they are willing to buckle down and work hard.

I would recommend GCU to all serious students who want a solid education. I am proud of my D1 school! LOPES UP!

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I was in the Master's Degree Program for Alcohol and DrugDec 17 2013Public Health
I was in the Master's Degree Program for Alcohol and Drug Counselors. No one ever told me about the 22 page booklet to get to know before you apply for an Internship. I was never made aware that it might take the entire time of my coursework to find this Internship. I did not know I should have been looking for this Internship the whole time I was taking classes. Now I have been out for 9 months and have not found my internship to complete this program. When I call this University I never get a return call from my once again new academic counselor or anyone! I have a good GPA and have paid them all the money? Was this a scam?
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Oct 15 2013Unknown
Very horrible experience
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I think the last review is pretty fairJul 19 2013Psychology
I think the last review is pretty fair. There are definitely faults with GCU. At a graduate level I had a few professors who seemed like they either didn't know what they were talking about or simply didn't care, but I also had a few that were great. The online platform still needs some tweaking, but I will say that over the past two years they have made significant improvements in it. All in all I would describe GCU as a school that has had a lot of problems in the past 5 to 10 years, yet the university as a whole seems to be putting in a lot of effort and money to improve. Over the 2 years that I attended I saw improvements in many areas. That said, they still have a ways to go to be an exceptional school.
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Grand Canyon is not bad but, needs aJun 17 2013Unknown
Grand Canyon is not bad but, needs a lot of improvement. There were problems with communication between to instructors and the system used when I first started. But, it was not explained to me that I could have complained about my grade until it was too late to do so. I had 2 instructors that need to be fired. I had several instructors with a god complex and was strictly teaching from their personal perspectives and denominations. Their religious teaching tactics are agree with me or fail. One teacher put in a complaint against me, because I would not bow to her as though she is more than human. Instead of GCU admonishing the instructor they just said oh well we are not going to punish you. The instructor was dumb as a rock. All her communications to me had spelling and or grammatical errors. Also, she did not use any rubric to grade papers. She used the practices of the university she graduated from and not GCU'. Also, the curriculums of the classes many times had nothing to do with the numerous books we had to purchase. There is not enough work by the financial aid department to get extra monies for students. However, my financial aid officer did as much as she could for me and always got right back in touch with me concerning any of my questions. The academic counselors changed so much, I really don't know what to think of them accept they were nice when they came though they never stayed long enough to be of any real help. I have one more class to complete and then I will be looking into another university to complete my doctoral or change my academic pursuit at a school that will give help and guidance.
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I will make sure everyone I know inApr 13 2013Unknown
I will make sure everyone I know in Phoenix where my home is and in Reno,Nv where I work never attends this school. I paid over $20,000 and now because I dropped a class (no help doing so and it was 3 days late) they have people calling me every day from an attorney and sending letters also every day and this is after I spoke with a person and set up payments with this "Christian School". This moron named Brandy at 602-639-7780. If I was going to die tomorrow unless I paid a dime to these crooks, I choose death. NEVER will you get a penny from me and this will end up costing this so call "Christian" group of criminals because of what I am going to do.
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Research Topic(s): How to Close Down A School
In this class the instructor did not understandAug 25 2012Education
In this class the instructor did not understand the content of the course and proved it over and over. In week eight of the class the instructor posted an article saying that it was his but gave no proper citations proving it. I found the article offensive and in so many words said so and I was turned in by the instructor. The instructor cannot take critizim.
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In my RES 861 curse the instructor triedAug 25 2012Education
In my RES 861 curse the instructor tried to manipulate the research that a student would use in ways such as saying that if you do a mixed methods you will not graduate on time. He also tried to sway students by saing that GCU only uses SPSS software. He is in charge of dissertations and did not have a good command of the subject matter for the class.
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When I received myAug 25 2012Education
When I received my dissertation chair he became verbally abusive over the internet. The instructor was a bully and only showed bad grades giving the student the impression that if you did not bow down to him he would fail you. I finally had to have the instructor removed as the dissertation chair.
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The school is a rvo,ving door of employeesAug 04 2012Accounting
The school is a rvo,ving door of employees. In two years I have had 6 financial aid counselors and 4 academic counselors. I am on line student. Their learning p,atform is riddled with technical problems, which you the student bear the brunt if. The teachers are disengaged and rel,y only grade yoyrwork. All the "lectures " lessons assignments and tests are canned, written by committees . The teachers have no passion no interest and are just as brutalized by he system as the student. I give this online hoo, an F- and strongly advise against it.
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By far the worstJul 31 2012Nursing
By far the worst experience I have ever had. Horrible professors and completely uncaring admisnitration. DO NOT GO THERE!!! Worst mistake I ever made. They will take all your money and make you fail for the most minute error. Very discriminating as well.
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Jul 10 2012Business - Management and Administration
The curriculum is a joke. You don't have to do very much to get good grades.
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This is my experience with this UniversityJul 03 2012Psychology
This is my experience with this University. In my time studying there, there was ONLY ONE person that I was able to contact when I had any kind of problems, of course this person works in the MILITARY ENROLLMENT coincidence huh?. This university is all about what they can get out of you. They clain to be an "religious" but as all, they are out for that money. IF YOU CAN, STAY AWAY FROM THIS UNIVERSITY. I was going for a degree that was "general" in nature, with the option to take a certificate course to become marketable in such degree. I was 3 classes to completion and they informed me that the "certificate course" it was drop from the curriculum, so needless to say that bumbed out my desire to stay witht his university. So apply somewhere else DO NOT WASTE YOUR TUITION ASSISATANCE MONEY in Grand canyon University.
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This is the worst university I have everJun 06 2012Education
This is the worst university I have ever attended. They change the requirements in the middle of your curriculum, ESPECIALLY as you are getting close to graduation. I took everything and am attending a reputable college and have everything in writing. Also they are not able to keep people as academic advisors, so no one can keep track of what you are suppose to be doing.Never ever go here, unless you receive everything in writing!
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I am a current online student in theApr 04 2012Nursing
I am a current online student in the MSN program, and have two bachelors from other brick and mortar universities. For those considering taking their MSN or BSN at GCU:

I am a working nurse, and the degree is very much respected in the nursing community. So, I wouldn't listen to those that try to disparage the nursing program at GCU. Here are some positives/negatives about my current experience at GCU.


First, I have some concerns about GCU:

1) There is no way to communicate with an instructor until your program starts, and by then it may be too late. If you have a vacation scheduled, a work conference out of town, etc., a question on whether the text is mandatory (or will hardly be used) you have to wait for the first day of the course to discuss this with the instructor. This may be too late for you to make changes outside of school. So, if you work or have a social life, and need any considerations, starting each course is a risk.

2) The course development is poor, meaning not enough information is given on each assignment. Therefore, even as an ultra-independent online learner (such as myself), you have to constantly ask the instructor for clarification. As you can imagine, this leaves a lot up to the instructor's vision of the course. If you have an excellent, helpful, involved instructor---great! If not---not so great. I am taking a course now with a fantastic instructor and am getting a lot of direction (because I am asking for it). A friend is taking the same course with a different instructor, and she is having a very difficult time getting appropriate responses from her instructor. Therefore, my friend's grade is much worse than mine.

3) MSN online classes are 8 weeks, taken BACK TO BACK until you complete your degree. You cannot take more than 2 weeks off at a time during your course, or you will lose your financial aid. An 8 week class is a VERY RIGOROUS schedule: You will be reading for 6 hours a week, answering Discussion Questions for approx 2-4 hours per week, and then participating in a CLC (Collaborative Learning Community) project for 2-6 hours weekly. This is VERY TIME CONSUMING, and if you are a procrastinator, or aren't able to commit to such a rigorous schedule, I'd seek another institution (with a slower pace).

SERIOUS CONCERNS:
The CLCs are disgusting! The Collaborative Learning Community is akin to online groupwork with people that you have no face-to-face contact with. And there is a GROUP GRADE! So, if you have great, independent hard workers, you do your share of the work and it pays off. If you have slugs, you do all of the work to protect your GPA. It's silly, unfair, and unnecessary. How do you work as a nurse without having a team? Why am I paying a university to create a simulated team environment? This alone would have diverted me away from GCU if I would have known sooner.

Overall, I think that the nursing leadership at the College of Nursing really cares about the program. However, I don't think that always translates into the faculty that they hire. They are very slow to act upon complaints, as well.

The cost: Approx. $20,000 for my entire MSN. That would be just about $4,000 more than a current online degree from a brick and mortar university in AZ. I chose GCU because I will have my entire MSN done in 18 months.

About For-Profit universities: Who cares? The difference between for-profit is that any excess profit goes to the shareholders, while in a non-profit organization, the excess profit (yes, even non-profits have profit) is reinvested into the business. It's the institution's Customer Service that matters.

I have a total of 3 contacts to GCU, which originally caused me concern, but is OK now:

1) Academic Advisor
2) Enrollment Advisor
3) Financial Aid Advisor
The problem is that they have a very narrow role, and whenever they try to do more, they make mistakes. I have only been a student for 4 months, and have not had a change yet. I have been to GCU's ground campus many times, and although I have never taken a ground course, I think it would be a great school to attend.

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I did a dual degreeJan 19 2012Business - Management and Administration
I did a dual degree. I really enjoyed GCU at first; the last year was truly sad. The school was very unorganized and riddled with numerous errors including taking a class that I did not need to take to graduate and financial aid error that caused hardship on my end. Sadly, they did nothing to rectify the extra class other then saying--"Opps..well you have an extra class now on your transcript " .

Sometimes it would take up to 4 weeks to have a return phone call or email. When I first noticed the financial aid error, they said the 4 week delay addressing my question was due being reassigned a new FA advisory--but sadly since it had been 4 weeks, now it was too late to fix.

I will add the instructors were awesome and I really did learn from them. However, since they also teach outside GCU, I would suggest you go to another school that is more organized and makes you feel like a student not burden. Or at least a school that takes responsibility for their errors rather then just brushing them off. At one time I encouraged others to enroll in the school and was so proud of my school, now I am not even telling anyone where I graduated and if it comes up, I just say, that the last year was horrible due to the cost and frequent changes in Academic and FA advisers (it changes several times per year).

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The staff at this university have no ideaDec 16 2011Education
The staff at this university have no idea what their doing. I was enrolled in the online component and I felt I was smarter than the teachers.

The academic and financial aid counselors changed about every two months. They have no idea what's going on with their students.

The financial aid department FORGOT to submit my aid to the government. They wanted me to pay my tuition in FULL before I could re-enroll. Obviously, I didn't have the money. Even though it was 100% their fault, they gave me an "oh well" attitude.

I'm still struggling to fight to get my degree, and this has been going on for 6 months.Please do not go to this university! It's total crap.

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I am disappointed to see such negative reviews of my univeDec 14 2011Education
I am disappointed to see such negative reviews of my university. I am almost finished with my Master's degree program online and will also be getting my teaching certification as well. I have been very happy with my experiences so far. I have almost a 4.0 GPA and enjoy my classes. All of my counselors and teachers have been very friendly and helpful. I have only had one counselor change on me and that was my finance counselor but she is very helpful. I think they all know what they are doing. As long as you are sincere and put forth an effort, they will help you. I will be proud to have a Master's degree and obtain my teaching license from them.
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An awful college to attendDec 08 2011Education
An awful college to attend. Had 9 academic advisers in less than 2 years and when I finally got within 2 classes of graduating, someone there decided I had to take 2 general tests, 4 Praxis test and a couple of other tests. None of which I needed to have a Masters or teaching degree in my state. Make sure you get a SIGNED CONTRACT and have an attorney look it over---you will never graduate without a lawyer helping you.
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Enrolling at Grand Canyon University was relatively simple,Oct 13 2011Psychology
Enrolling at Grand Canyon University was relatively simple, since they only want your money. My first class was a waste of time and money, it wasn't at all necessary. I withdrew after the first class because I referred my daughter to their PhD program. They treated her so terribly and then was condescending to me when I questioned their behavior. I made the mistake of letting them talk me into giving them a second chance.

The instructor in my second class supposedly was a PhD with good credentials. She was dumber than a box of rocks. She did not even know the universtiies policies for research papers, but attempted to grade them anyway. Her grammar and writing abilities were equal to that of a seventh grader.

I withdrew again, now Grand Canyon seems to be trying to steal what is left of my Federal Financial aid. Do your self a favor and stay clear of Grand Canyon University.

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Never ever go to this college----you get intoAug 27 2011Education
Never ever go to this college----you get into the courses and they get your money and they will inform you of requirements that are not conducive to your State. They will kick you out of classes even when you have a 4.0 average.They will not work with you and you will go to court to sue them for your money back so you can go to a good college that will get you the degree you want. So why waste your time as I did. Lucky we have a lawyer in the family.
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Don?t enroll poor communication; I had to payJul 25 2011Psychology
Don?t enroll poor communication; I had to pay more because of their mistake. When starting classes with Grand Canyon University the instructor did not have any contact information. The instructor did not have ending dates for work modules. When submitting work the instructor never graded the work or give feedback.
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I have been in MBA program cohort andMar 03 2011Business - Management and Administration
I have been in MBA program cohort and Online for two years and have found that the instructors and professors individually are what make or break the university. I have had really good professors and others that are so/so. However as stated before, it is what you put in to the program that will make you or break you as most of the syllabuses are the same with suggested and required readings. Overall the program is educational and interactive if that is not what you are looking for then I would not suggest you attend GCU.
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Terrible schoolFeb 17 2011Business - Management and Administration
Terrible school. The graduate students are barely literate and lazy. The "professors" are at best classroom moderators. The MBA program is not accredited by the AACSB. Decided to get real, take the GMAT, and go to a real grad school.
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Reading these reviews can be a difficult taskFeb 03 2011Business - Management and Administration
Reading these reviews can be a difficult task. The responses range from the course work being too difficult, to not difficult enough. As hard as it may seem, both are true. With the online format you receive education precisely equivalent to the amount of effort put in.

I think one of the other challenges is the significant number of professors, which total more than 2,000,in the online format. I have taken 500 level courses which were very difficult and then followed up with a 600 course that was a piece of cake. The difference was completely attributed to the professor, which is not unlike any institution or format.

My review of this university is similarly mixed. While I feel that I have learned a significant amount from some courses, others have left me feeling cheated. However, the number of positive outcomes outnumber the negative interactions. At the end of the day, if you want to get by doing the minimum, the online format allows you the opportunity, in some instances, to do so successfully. However, it is just as likely that students with determination and initiative will be able to take advantage of the opportunity afforded by this university. This will require you to be a self starter, intelligent, disciplined and financially capable of taking on a difficult venture.My review is neutral, but take caution when looking into the opinions of others. While this university has a high acceptance rate, little more than 35% of students who begin school here actually finish. This translates to a significant amount of persons, all unable to finish the program, that might be inclined to attribute their inability to succeed to something the university did. This is due to an external locus of control and individuals who exhibit this type of characteristic are rarely successful.

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Dec 14 2010Education
Marjaneh is corrupt and ill suited person to work at GCU. PLease FIRE her. Gilpatrick
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This graduate program sucks!Sep 26 2010Accounting
This graduate program sucks! The online material is jacked up and irrelevant diagrams are inserted in Lecture Notes. Teachers are paycheck whores, lazy and unable to write more than one-liners.
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I feel like the leadership at GCU hasSep 14 2010Education
I feel like the leadership at GCU has really turned the school around. This was just printed today in Barron's:

"Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the data confirm, 'students attending for-profit schools are the most likely to default. While for-profit schools have profited and prospered thanks to federal dollars, some of their students have not. Far too many for-profit schools are saddling students with debt they cannot afford in exchange for degrees and certificates they cannot use. This is a disservice to students and taxpayers, and undermines the valuable work being done by the for-profit education industry as a whole.'

"Here?s a sample of how the schools scored in percentage of loans defaulting in fiscal 2008:

* American Public University (run by American Public Education (APEI)): 5.2%
* Grand Canyon University (run by LOPE): 3.4%
* University of Phoenix (run by APOL): 12.9%
* Kaplan University (run by Washington Post?s (WPO) Kaplan division): 17.2%
* Everest College, San Bernardino, California (run by Corinthian Colleges (COCO)): 31%
* Colorado Technical University (run by Career Education Corp. (CECO)): 12.4%
* Strayer University (run by Strayer Education (STRA): 6.7%
* DeVry University (run by DeVry (DV):10.2%
In an email late this afternoon, BMO Capital analyst Jeff Silber remarked of Grand Canyon?s results that, ?While their default rate did increase to 3.4% from 1.4%, its still among the lowest in the industry, including not for profit schools. This is another indicator of the relatively high quality nature of the company and its students, in our view.?Everyone working at GCU showed what a great place it is by being hard-working an focused. Great job, fellow alumni!!!

Question
I am a currently holding a 3Jul 13 2010Social Work
I am a currently holding a 3.9 at GCU and ready for completion of my masters. Although the course work is not difficult, the difficulty involves being able to obtain textbooks, avenues of communication when problems arise, randomly being dropped from courses due to computer glitches, non-involvement from many instructors, arrogance from the dean when these problems arise. In the class I currently am in, the required text has not even been released from the publisher. I would advise anyone to choose another institution of higher education.
Question
THIS SCHOOL IS AJun 09 2010Education
THIS SCHOOL IS A JOKE! I attended the first 3 days of the doctoral residency and have never been around such unqualified people! I got out of there the first chance I got!
Question
The university new computerMay 19 2010Psychology
The university new computer system broke, financial aid is weeks behind, grades from previous classes weeks behind. Grand Canyon University Business and Administration grades out at an "F".
Question
I graduated two years ago from solid BrickNov 17 2009Accounting
I graduated two years ago from solid Brick and mortar university, that has the north central accredition and the AACSB accrediction which GCU does not have, and I graduated with honors. I am not un-intelligent as some would suggest. I have very good grades at GCU as well, with less than half the effort, as I put into my undergrad.

This deeply distrubs me. It says a lot about their academic standards.
If you are looking for a quality university, keep looking. In addition, they have a poorly trained student finance department, Who do not take phone calls, but respond after you leave several messages.

and the professors provide routine feedback, rather than personalized grading.
Basically, you do the assignment you get a good grade.
I have tried to make this work, but I would be embarassed to hang a degree from GCU on my wall.
I am returning to my ala mater, and leaving GCU in the dust.. They have their work cut out for them.

Question
My feelings are mixedApr 01 2009Education
My feelings are mixed. There is a lot I like about this online program, but it's ending on a really awful, disappointing note, which won't be resolved either way for a few weeks yet. I liked many of the textbooks assigned, liked the papers though they were so much work. I don't see the need for everything to be test oriented to be a good program, and some of the paper topics were fabulously interesting. Discussion boards could be repetitive and shallow, but sometimes not. It just depends on the original post questions and where the students take it. I didn't find it to be narrowly Christian at all. For the most part, everything went smoothly until the last few classes.

My negatives are as follows. Tech support was clueless when I needed their help most, but for basic stuff they were fine. Professors could sometimes grade weirdly, like by word count rather than content, would sometimes ask you to revise and resubmit, which made for a really heavy workload, and some of them could be sharply rude. Sometimes they assumed you'd do things you were never told to do, and they'd be rather mean about it. My academic advisor kept changing but was nice enough. I never talked to financial aid. I thought everything was going smoothly and even called to find out the details of the internship requirement well in advance, got it arranged, was ready for graduation with no problem....Then when the internship came, I found out everything I was told was wrong, the requirements were totally different and not what I arranged. So now I may fail the internship and not graduate. Now I understand the comments I saw here a few months back that were negative. I was puzzled how they could be so different that what I experienced. That said, I should also mention that brick and mortar schools have their share of troubles, just maybe this program is more inflexible in handling complaints because it's still too new for online programs.

Question
GCU is a pretty decent school with lotsSep 27 2008Psychology
GCU is a pretty decent school with lots of programs offered both on campus and online. It's not the easiest school to get in to, and it's not the hardest either ( around 65% of applicants overall are accepted, so it's respectable).

I earned by B.A on campus, and graduated with a 3.5 GPA from a great university. When I moved I had to consider going to graduate school by distance. I researched Grand Canyon University and made the choice to go because I was really impressed by the courses offered in GCU's Masters in Counseling program. The main reason I chose GCU is because they offered the program I wanted by distance and after studying the course descriptions and licensing requirements in my state I knew it would prepare me to become an excellent professional counselor.

The classes are challenging and I'm earning my Masters degree from a regionally accredited private school that has an actual ground campus, and a student to faculty ratio of 12:1.

I noticed that some of the Education majors gave negative reviews on the basis that the classes were not challenging and repetitive. I'm sorry to say that has nothing to do with the quality of education you receive at GCU, but everything to do with your major! Most Education majors say that their classes are not challenging whether they're degree is done on campus or by distance at ANY school.

Keep in mind that whether you're an on campus or a distance student, all students should know that the quality of one's education always boils down to how motivated they are in their major and how much work they're willing to put into their degree.

I would highly recommend GCU!

Question
I'm an online student who is four classesSep 21 2008Education
I'm an online student who is four classes shy of completion. While there are no tests, I found the papers challenging and educational. With one due each week, it's still challenging enough to formulate a paper that meets the weekly prompt. I put in a great deal of time and effort into my program and am very happy with my professional and personal progress. I would recommend to other teachers.
Question
Well, let's seeSep 10 2008Nursing
Well, let's see. I enrolled in the MSN program which was scheduled to begin this fall. I developed some very serious and unexpected family changes that forced me to delay admission. Instead of being supportive and working with me, this "Christian" Institution held me accountable for 25% of the tuition due after only 5 business days had passed. Had I been on a semester schedule this would have been OK, but online classes are every 8 weeks. I am being forced to pay 25% for a class that does not even start until October.

Their excuse? "We work on a semester program and we have no choice but to charge you." Of course, other institutions do not work this way. Iknow of plenty of semester institutions that offer 8 week online programs...they offer 8 week students a separate deadline for each class. It is a violation of both Christian and business ethics to charge for services that have not been given. Regardless of what policy they claim to be using...it cannot be justified by a moral standard of right and wrong.

I expressed my dissatisfaction with both the heartless manner in which I was treated and with the institutions ethics. I was informed that Christianity had nothing to do with it, they were running a business.

The kind people I met when they were trying to attract my "business" turned into a bunch of strong arm thugs. They violated the very principles they profess to hold.

I would think very seriously before I committed to an online education through this Institution. There are many organizations that claim Christian values in order to attract business, but when push comes to shove it goes by the wayside.I can only thank the LORD that I found this out before I invested two years in their program.

Question
I recently completed my Master's degree (MAug 31 2008Education
I recently completed my Master's degree (M.Ed.in Special Education)from Grand Canyon University's online campus and I am very pleased with my graduate education. The program is quite rigorous compared to some of the traditional "Brick & Mortor" campus programs. But, you really learn how to apply the curriculum in all areas of the course work. I took courses at 2 other universities (AIU & University of Phoenix) before choosing Grand Canyon and neither has the great online environment that GCU has. Specifically, the instructors are great and the campus site is easy to navigate. Additionally, the program is affordable.
Question
Research Topic(s): N/A
Many instructors don't have a clueAug 13 2008Education
Many instructors don't have a clue. Assignments are often unreasonable and evidently unalterable though not practical or realistic. Everything graded with software. Can't communicate with other student EXCEPT on sites that instructors can read. The University does not care about the student--any problems MUST be rsolved with instructor. University takes their side every time.
Question
Some of the professors are GREAT--don't get meAug 06 2008Education
Some of the professors are GREAT--don't get me wrong. But I have also had three of the WORST professors I've ever had here. I took the time to report incidents to the University and they ALWAYS back the professor. The want the money, they DO NOT CARE about the students. They claim to be a Christian University and treat STUDENTS terribly.
Question
This school is horribleFeb 13 2008Education
This school is horrible. The assignments were repetitious and useless. The faculty is confused and the program lacks structure. I got nothing out of it but a huge bill and they refused to return my Title IV refund check to me.
Question
I’m earning my MBA online with GCUJan 29 2008Business - Management and Administration
I’m earning my MBA online with GCU. I live in the Metro Phoenix area and am familiar with what the campus looks like, it's improved but still has a long way to go. I’ve found the program to be good so far, the level of service I receive from the staff and faculty has been good. Not sure what all of this hype is about the CEO, but the quality of the education is good and my employer and HR office seemed pleased with my school of choice and several of my coworkers have begun their degrees as well. I recommend it.
Question
Feb 08 2006Business - Management and Administration
Would advise students to consider Grand Canyon University for educational needs.
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