Congressman Paul A. Gosar (AZ-09) has praised the U.S. Department of Education’s recent decision to formally recognize Grand Canyon University (GCU) as a nonprofit institution of higher education. The announcement marks the end of a prolonged period during which GCU’s status was under federal review.
“I applaud the U.S. Department of Education for finally doing what should have been done years ago: recognizing Grand Canyon University as the nonprofit institution it is. This decision is a victory for fairness, the rule of law, and religious freedom.
For far too long, GCU was subjected to unjustified scrutiny and ideological bias. The previous administration’s refusal to acknowledge its nonprofit status was not about facts or compliance; it was about politics and an unacceptable hostility toward the largest Christian university in the nation.
Grand Canyon University met the legal and regulatory requirements yet was repeatedly targeted by the Biden administration because it dared to operate openly and unapologetically according to its Christian values. That is not how a free country treats religious institutions, and it is certainly not how the federal government should treat one of Arizona’s most successful higher education institutions.
I commend GCU’s leadership, students, and faculty for persevering through years of uncertainty and fighting to ensure that no administration ever again weaponizes the federal bureaucracy against religious schools simply for living out their values,” stated Congressman Paul Gosar.
Paul Gosar has maintained his seat in Congress after winning general elections in both 2022 and 2024 against Richard Grayson and Quacy Smith respectively.
