The remarkable transformation at Grand Canyon University over the past two decades includes some staggering numbers:

  • $1.8 billion in investments into academic infrastructure including new classrooms, laboratories, research spaces, residence halls, technologies and other student amenities.
  • A campus that is now ranked among the top 25 in the country by niche.com.
  • Tripling the number of academic offerings in GCU’s 10 colleges to 349.
  • The construction or major renovation of an astounding 72 buildings on its 300-acre campus since 2010.
  • And an explosion in enrollment from less than 1,000 traditional students in 2008 to nearly 25,000 on-campus students today, with another nearly 100,000 students studying online.

One number that has not changed as GCU has grown into the largest Christian university in the country: the cost of tuition on its Phoenix campus.

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GCU announced today it will be freezing the cost of tuition on its Phoenix campus in 2025-26 – the 17th straight year the university has held the line on tuition as part of its pledge to make private Christian higher education affordable to all socioeconomic classes.

“When you look at the amazing growth that has occurred on our campus, we are blessed in that it has occurred without passing those costs on to students through increases in tuition on our ground campus, without exorbitant or hidden fees that many universities charge, and without requiring state tax subsidies that public universities receive,” said GCU President Mueller. “That is a testament to our financial model and the incredible efficiencies we achieve by serving our ground, online and hybrid students through a common infrastructure.”

The university’s ground campus tuition in 2025-26 will remain at $16,500 before institutional scholarships are included. Because more than 92% of GCU’s traditional students qualify for institutional scholarships that totaled $176 million in 2024, that brings the average tuition cost in 2024-25 to approximately $9,100, 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 $1,500 annually in fees, excluding book access fees.

Data from the College Board’s “Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid Report” is not yet available for the past year, but information from the prior year’s report shows the average cost for in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges had risen 71% to $11,260 since 2008-09 when GCU began its tuition freeze, while it had risen 65% to $41,540 at four-year private institutions.

GCU’s housing costs are also well below the national average. The average cost for room and board in 2023-24 was $12,770 at a four-year public college and $14,650 at a four-year private institution, according to the College Board. GCU’s average room and board cost is just $10,540 even though nearly all of the modern residence halls have been built in the past 13 years and roughly 66% of the university’s beds are single-occupancy, apartment-style living. GCU’s residence halls are rated No. 4 out of 1,353 colleges in America by niche.com.

“When you look at the rising costs in higher education, it’s not surprising that families are questioning the value of a college education and it’s not surprising that 500 colleges have closed in the past decade,” Mueller said. “We remain committed to keeping private Christian education affordable for families. Ensuring that education is affordable also increases diversity, improves access for first-generation college students and promotes upward social mobility, which should be significant objectives in higher education.”