Grand Canyon University

Former names	Grand Canyon College (August 1949 – May 1989)[1]
Motto	Find Your Purpose
Type	Private for-profit university[a][2]
Established	August 1, 1949; 76 years ago (1949-08-01)[1]
Accreditation	HLC
Religious affiliation	Non-denominational Christian (formerly Southern Baptist Convention)
President	Brian Mueller
Provost	Randy Gibb
Academic staff	550 full-time faculty[3] 5,801 adjunct faculty[3]
Students	101,816[4]
Undergraduates	66,769[4]
Postgraduates	35,047[4]
Location	Phoenix, Arizona , U.S.
Campus	Large city, 300 acres (120 hectares)[5]
Student-to-faculty ratio	20 to 1[4]
Newspaper	GCU Today
Colors	Purple, black, and white[6]
Nickname	Antelopes ("Lopes")
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I – Mountain West MPSF
Mascot	Thunder the Antelope
Website	gcu.edu

Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a private Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The U.S. Department of Education categorizes it as a for-profit institution, which the university has appealed.^[b] The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administratively divided into nine colleges.^[7] As of September 2023, more than 100,000 students were enrolled online and in person, making it one of the largest Christian universities by enrollment.^[4][8]

The Arizona Southern Baptist Convention established the institution in 1949 as Grand Canyon College.^[9] During the 1999–2000 academic year, the university ended its affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention, and became non-denominational Christian.^[10] The university competes as the Grand Canyon Antelopes in NCAA Division I athletics as a member of the Mountain West Conference.^[11]

Although the U.S. Department of Education categorizes GCU as a for-profit university, the IRS classifies it as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, the regional accreditation body, the Higher Learning Commission, classifies it as nonprofit, and it has nonprofit approvals from the State of Arizona and the Arizona Board for Private Postsecondary Education.^[12] As of November 2024^[update], the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Education Department exceeded the authority granted to it under the Higher Education Act and ordered the Department to re-evaluate its classification using a different standard.^[13][14]

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