# Grand Canyon University
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 14, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038 "2009-09-14T15:32:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/1 "2009-09-14T15:32:16Z")
Does anyone know about [Grand Canton University](http://www.gcu.edu/)? A friend of mine wants to get her BS (and probably Masters) online there.
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### Author:  [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/2 "2009-09-14T15:45:37Z")
Depends. What does she want to do with the degree?
The [accreditation page](http://www.gcu.edu/index.php?page=accreditation&phpMyAdmin=69kzTpKpMZ0S%2C2J6oZoxNK7F-Rf) scares me. From the Licensure and Approvals section, state of South Carolina:
> [@](#):
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> Licensure is not equivalent to or synonymous with accreditation by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Also notice that if she wants to teach, the degrees offered will not automatically accredit her to teach in the states listed.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/3 "2009-09-14T15:46:25Z")
Nursing.
> [@](#):
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> The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 530, Washington DC 20036, (202) 887-6791 accredits our Bachelor of Science in Nursing and the Master of Science - Nursing degree programs. Grand Canyon University is approved by the Arizona State Board of Nursing to provide nursing programs in the State of Arizona.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/4 "2009-09-14T16:02:48Z")
I assume she has looked into instate public schools which are going to be much cheaper?
I was surprised to find out UNC has an online BSN program, you do the clinical part in your home area
[http://nursing.unc.edu/current/rn-bsn/program/overview.html](http://nursing.unc.edu/current/rn-bsn/program/overview.html)
This is not cheap if you live outside NC.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/5 "2009-09-15T01:22:24Z")
Not really sure what the in-state opportunities are. (She lives in Oregon.)
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/6 "2009-09-15T03:41:59Z")
I’ve never heard of it.
The actual physical campus is not in a good area of Phoenix. However, I"m guessing she’s going to do their online program. I’ll try to ask around tomorrow to see if anyone at work knows about it.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/7 "2009-09-15T03:51:18Z")
That’s correct. She wants to live in Oregon, and do the program online.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/8 "2009-09-15T10:53:51Z")
One issue that the online schools often have is that their credits may not be transferable to any other colleges or universities. If there’s any chance that she might decide to finish her degree at community college in Oregon, or get some additional degree in nursing or a related field, she should make very certain as to which other colleges will (not “may”) accept GCU’s credits.
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### Author:  [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/9 "2009-09-15T18:44:38Z")
My ex-wife was a senior financial aid officer there 8 or so years ago. When she hired in, she loved it. After about a year there the facility got bought out by some incredibly unscrupulous former online university senior staff that had been booted for ethics violations and fraud accusations.
They set about revamping the admissions and FA accounting and processes, and persisted even after my wife and others in the department explained to them that what they were doing was in violation of federal guidelines and regulations. Once there was talk of the school losing its accreditation, she quit.
I don’t know anything about the school since she left. They may well have been reformed or taken over by someone else and gotten their act together, but if this is the same group that owned them a decade ago, I’d avoid it like the plague.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/10 "2009-09-15T19:31:24Z")
They listed their accreditation for the Nursing program, which I posted above. They also say this:
> [@](#):
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> Grand Canyon University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. This is a regional accrediting body as mentioned above. (30 N. LaSalle St. Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602-2504 tel. 800-621-7440; [The Higher Learning Commission](http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org/.))
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### Author:  [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/11 "2009-09-15T22:50:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> They listed their accreditation for the Nursing program, which I posted above. They also say this:
Have your friend talk to the nurses’ licensing body in her state to find out if those are acceptable accreditations or not. If so, no worries. If not, she’ll know before shelling anything out.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grand-canyon-university/510038/12 "2009-09-15T23:45:36Z")
I’ll suggest that next time I talk to her.
FWIW, she’s really interested in missionary/global work. (WHO, Doctors Without Borders, that sort of thing.) Or she’d like to be a Travel Nurse.