Grand Canyon University may go private

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Brian Mueller

Patrick O'Grady

Managing Editor- Phoenix Business Journal

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Grand Canyon University may become a private school at least in terms of the financial market as officials are looking at taking the school off the markets.

In a statement released Wednesday, GCU President and CEO Brian Mueller said the university would look at going private again after its financial position improved enough that it can stand on its own without investment.

"Whether or not this process is successful – and there is a great deal of legal and financial due diligence that must be conducted to determine if it could be possible – the growth and upward trajectory of the University will continue," he said. "The financial model of the institution has produced high-quality, low-cost private Christian higher education and we have found there is no end to the demand for this product."

No timetable was listed for if, or when, GCU would decide to go private again.

GCU went public in 2008, four years after it decided to go with a for-profit status and take investment. That initial investment was to cover $20 million in debt the university had accumulated and could not pay down.

The for-profit move has exploded the university's presence. GCU has expanded its campus, has more than 11,000 students on campus and more than 55,000 online. It is still planning to grow its on-campus student population to 25,000, Mueller said.

The university has been successful enough that it has spent $30 million buying property around the school near 33rd Avenue and Camelback Road. It also is undertaking an $8 million renovation of Maryvale Golf Course.

Mueller said part of the reason GCU was considering going private again was because of the stigma associated with for-profit schools.

Patrick O'Grady is managing editor of the Phoenix Business Journal.