The U.S. Department of Education applied the wrong legal test when denying the institution’s request to be considered a nonprofit, an appeals court ruled.
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Department of Education applied the wrong legal standard when denying Grand Canyon University’s request to be considered a nonprofit, a federal appeals court ruled last week, scoring a major win for the 123,000-student Christian institution.
In 2019, the Education Department said it would continue treating Grand Canyon University as a for-profit for Title IV federal financial aid purposes. The decision kicked off a protracted legal battle over the university’s status, with a federal judge siding with the department in 2022.
But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overturned that decision Friday, ruling that the Education Department held the university to a stricter standard than required under the Higher Education Act.
