PHOENIX, Nov. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand Canyon University announced today it is
freezing tuition costs on its Phoenix campus for the 14th
straight year, continuing its commitment to make higher education
affordable to all socioeconomic classes.
The private Christian university's ground campus tuition in
2022-23 will remain at $16,500 before
institutional scholarships are included. Because more than 90% of
GCU students qualify for institutional scholarships that totaled
$170 million in 2021, that brings the
average tuition cost in 2021-22 to approximately $8,700, which is comparable to public
universities and well below other private schools. That total does
not include federal aid such as Pell grants and subsidized student
loans or external scholarships that lower students' out-of-pocket
expenses further. In addition to tuition, GCU students pay an
average of roughly $1,100 annually in
fees, which is often much less than both public and private
universities.
According to data from the College Board's "Trends in College
Pricing and Student Aid Report," since 2008-09 when GCU began its
tuition freeze, the average cost for in-state tuition and fees at
four-year public colleges has risen 63% to $10,740, while it has risen 51% to $38,070 at four-year private institutions.
"By ensuring that private Christian education is affordable, we
have created an environment where there is equality of opportunity
for everyone," GCU President Brian
Mueller said. "That has resulted in a high quality student
body that is very diverse with 46% people of color, including 28%
Hispanic and 6% African-American. We are also proud of the fact
that nearly 40% of this year's incoming class of 9,000 new students
are first-generation college students. We have invested heavily in
resources to support those students with the challenges they face
in a college environment."
GCU's housing costs are also well below the national average
despite the fact that its residence halls are rated the sixth best
in the country according to niche.com. The average cost of room and
board at a four-year public college rose to $11,950 in 2021-22 and to $13,620 at a four-year private institution,
according to the College Board. GCU's average room and board cost
is just $8,628 even though nearly all
of the modern residence halls have been built in the past 10 years
and roughly 55% of the university's beds are single-occupancy,
apartment-style living.
With affordable tuition and room/board costs, graduates at GCU
are incurring less debt (an average of $21,073 according to 2018 data from College
Scorecard) than the reported national average at public and private
nonprofit colleges ($28,950 according
to 2019 data from the Institute for College Access and
Success).
During the 14-year tuition freeze, GCU has invested $1.6 billion into new academic programs,
technologies, classrooms, laboratories, research spaces, residence
halls and other student amenities in order to keep up with the
growth of the university. On-campus enrollment has grown from less
than 1,000 traditional students in 2008 to 23,500 today, while the
number of colleges has increased from 3 to 9 and the number of
academic programs, emphases and certificates to nearly 300.
"We feel very blessed that we have been able to use our cash
reserves to continue to build out the university without passing
those costs on to students through increases in tuition," Mueller
said. "We plan to invest an additional $400
million over the next four years as we grow the ground
campus to 40,000 students but are committed to keeping tuition
affordable for our students and families."
About Grand Canyon University: Grand Canyon University was founded in 1949
and is Arizona's premier private
Christian university. GCU is regionally accredited by the Higher
Learning Commission and offers nearly 300 academic programs,
emphases and certificates for both traditional undergraduate
students and working professionals. The University's curriculum
emphasizes interaction with classmates, both in-person and online,
and individual attention from instructors while fusing academic
rigor with Christian values to help students find their purpose and
become skilled, caring professionals. For more information, visit
gcu.edu.
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SOURCE Grand Canyon University