Grand Canyon University tuition holding steady for 12th year in row

PHOENIX – While enrollment has skyrocketed at Grand Canyon University over the last decade-plus, tuition hasn’t budged.

The private Christian college in Phoenix announced Wednesday its tuition will remain frozen for the 12th consecutive year in 2020-21.

“GCU’s goal is to make college education affordable to all socioeconomic classes of Americans, and we have taken a very innovative approach to make that happen,” GCU President Brian Mueller said in a press release.

Undergradute tuition at the campus on Camelback Road and 35th Avenue will remain at $16,500 next school year. Rates may vary for graduate and online students, the school told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

More than 90% of students receive GCU scholarships, bringing the average tuition paid down to around $8,700, according to the release. That figure doesn’t include federal grants, subsidized student loans or external scholarships.

Citing data from the Institute for College Access and Success, GCU said its students incur an average of $18,750 in debt, significantly lower than the $29,200 average for public and private nonprofit colleges.

In 2008, 1,000 students attended the campus. This year’s enrollment was up to 22,000, according to the university.

The school, which was founded in 1949, now offers 270 academic degrees, emphases and certificates in nine colleges.

To accommodate and encourage the growth, GCU has spent more than $1 billion on academic programs, classrooms, laboratories, residence halls and other amenities in the past decade, according to the release.

The university plans to invest another $500 million over the next five years.

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