Grand Canyon University Rankings by Salary Score

I would not recommend this institution. I maintained a 4.0 throughout the entirety of my program and maintained an A throughout my research methods class. The course was online and the professor had a final exam in which she disclaimed that if the test had a glitch she would not reset it, which is an unfair policy with the current conditions of COVID. During the exam there was a glitch and the professor refused to reopen the test and let me complete it due to concerns with integrity of test. I asked for another... Read More question set or an alternative assignment and was ignored. I submitted an academic appeal and was denied. Do not attend this university if you value your education or GPA, or want to be treated fairly.

I had reached out to inform GCU of our family's disappointing experience this past fall. The entire process of withdrawing has been such a nightmare. Move in day for my daughter was September 25 - it was shortly thereafter that changes to their schedules couldn't be made, yet not enough time on campus was spent in order to know if a student was comfortable to be on campus. By the time my daughter realized she would prefer to remain online, the "deadline" to make changes to her schedule had passed. More time... Read More should have been given and allowances should have been made during the pandemic, to allow a student to make the type of decisions they were comfortable with, while keeping them safe and healthy. My daughter's counselor never seemed capable of providing the answers she needed. Adding a dance class became a mess, and when she told her counselor that she was withdrawing, she quoted her three different financial amounts in three emails regarding our financial responsibility. It wasn't until I got involved that she suddenly seemed to have more answers, yet everything was still very confusing. Her communication was often delayed. I had to phrase my questions in a way that were expressly written, in order to get any type of answer that would help me to understand what was needed. Each answer was only more frustrating, and it seemed like things were being made up as we went along. Student housing charged my daughter a fee for not returning her keys properly. However, their response time was incredibly slow. While in California, my daughter emailed housing that she was withdrawing and asked what she would need to do. While waiting for a response, she returned to Arizona (by car) to move out, and was in Arizona for two days before heading back to California. She never heard anything until she was on the road back to California. She informed them that she left her keys in the room and they could be retrieved from her roommates. When I tried to contact them, they refused to speak with me until my daughter gave them permission to do so. Even after my daughter provided the necessary permissions to speak with me, they never responded to me or my questions about the fee. We only received a portion of the dining dollars back based on a percentage of when my daughter attended school. Of course the biggest percentages were early on, and the longer a student stayed on ground, the less of their dining dollars would be refunded if they chose to withdraw. That makes no sense at all. Unused dining dollars should not be downgraded for a refund at any time. While I understand that my daughter did not finish out the year, her dorm costs were not prorated and refunded to us. While this makes no sense, I understand it's the school's policy. However, to be charged a $400 cancellation fee for her Spring contract is ridiculous. GCU would be able to fill that spot that was left vacant. My daughter was only in the dorm for approximately 23 days (technically less, but I am giving GCU the benefit by going off of the date that the fine was posted on 10/15). The semester is a total of 88 days. The difference of 65 days is being kept by GCU, which works out to $1421.875. And nothing needs to be done by GCU to retain this money. While yes, there's an empty bed, they also have one less student on campus to concern themselves with. This amount more than covers the fee that GCU charged my daughter for the termination of her spring contract, and should have been waived. As parents on campus during move-in week, we were horrified to see how many students would assemble on the lawn for hours, not social distancing or wearing masks, well into the late-night hours. As well, dorm rooms were packed with students sitting far too close and engaging in social activities that should not have been taking place. Alcohol and vaping were also being abused. GCU has a responsibility to its students and their families to keep the students safe and healthy, and the families properly informed. In my opinion, all of this needs to be taken into consideration when a student makes a decision to leave the campus, now more than ever. This was not the type of environment my daughter wanted to be in, and while she would have preferred to finish out the semester at home and online, GCU made that impossible, forcing her to make the decision to withdraw. We never experienced any compassion, empathy, concern, or understanding throughout the entire process. You operate as a university when it suits you, and a business when it comes to the policies and fees that benefit you. This hardly serves the customers GCU calls "students". It has been both shocking and disappointing to witness. We weren't trying to profit from GCU, but it clearly feels they were trying to profit from us.