Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (GCE) operates as an education services company that serves colleges and universities.
GCE has developed significant technological solutions, infrastructure and operational processes to provide services to these institutions on a large scale. GCE’s most significant university partner is Grand Canyon University (GCU), an Arizona non-profit corporation that operates a comprehensive regionally accredited university that offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs...
Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (GCE) operates as an education services company that serves colleges and universities.
GCE has developed significant technological solutions, infrastructure and operational processes to provide services to these institutions on a large scale. GCE’s most significant university partner is Grand Canyon University (GCU), an Arizona non-profit corporation that operates a comprehensive regionally accredited university that offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs, emphases and certificates across ten colleges both online and on ground at its campus in Phoenix, Arizona and at eight off-campus classroom and laboratory sites. As of December 31, 2024, GCE provided education services and support to approximately 127,150 students with more than 123,100 students enrolled in GCU’s programs, emphases and certificates.
The company also provides education services to numerous university partners across the United States. In the healthcare field, it works in partnership with universities and healthcare networks across the country, offering healthcare-related academic programs at off-campus classroom and laboratory sites located near healthcare providers and developing high-quality, career-ready graduates who enter the workforce ready to meet the demands of the healthcare industry. In addition, the company has provided certain services to a university partner to assist them in expanding their online graduate programs. As of December 31, 2024, GCE provides education services to 22 university partners across the United States.
GCE is an education services company with 22 university partners as of December 31, 2024. The company provides these services to its university partners pursuant to master services agreements that define the scope of its engagement, the types of services provided and other key terms of the engagement.
Suite of Services
The following describes the various services that the company is capable of providing to university partners. Services actually provided to a given university partner depend upon the nature of programs supported by GCE, existing university infrastructure, and university partner preferences.
Technology and Academic Services
The company provides technology and academic services that can include the ongoing maintenance of its university partners’ educational infrastructure, including online course delivery and management, student records, assessment, customer relations management and other internal administrative systems. These services can also include curriculum conversion, support for content development, support for faculty and related training and development, technical support, rent and occupancy costs for university partners’ simulation and skills labs, and assistance with state regulatory compliance. The company has established secure, reliable and scalable technology systems that provide a high-quality educational environment and that give it the capability to grow its university partners’ programs and enrollment.
Technology Services may include the following:
Learning Management System (LMS) - GCE designed and offers to its university partners its own proprietary LMS, called Halo. All of GCU’s students, online and ground use this LMS. The basic functionality includes an interactive course syllabus, discussion questions and forums, instruction interaction, class quizzes, group assignments, written assignment submission and rubrics, grading, participation, attendance and integration with its student information system. The functions in Halo have been reimagined to work more intuitively with new user interface design and more seamless ways of accomplishing the same tasks. Halo was designed as a cloud native application taking advantage of all the performance and reliability features of the cloud. Halo supports small classes that are instructor led, highly interactive and collaborative. Rich content that originates from a myriad of sources, including direct advisement from industry, is coupled with a robust discussion environment. Students most often respond to the content and discussion through written work. The writing assignments are designed to promote critical thinking which is often connected to solving real world problems. This platform can easily and reliably scale as student populations increase. The platform provides in-depth analytics that allow it to closely monitor student success and the quality of instructional resources. GCE also designed its previous learning management system, LoudCloud which GCU used prior to HALO.
Internal administration – The company utilizes a commercial customer relations management development platform to distribute, manage, track, and report on all interactions with prospective student leads, as well as all active and inactive students. This software is scalable to capacity levels well in excess of requirements. It also utilizes a commercial software package to track Title IV funds, student records, grades, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and general ledger.
Infrastructure – The company operates two data centers, one at GCU’s campus and one at another Phoenix-area location. Its infrastructure supports IT for GCE, and it can provide it for its customers. All of the company’s servers are networked, and it has redundant data backup. The company manages its technology environment internally. Its wide area network is fully redundant to ensure maximum uptime, bandwidth capacity and network performance. Student access is load balanced for optimal performance. Real-time monitoring provides system status across network, server, and storage components. The company provides cybersecurity services, support and incident response for all infrastructure and software that it utilizes.
Support – The company provides 18/7 technical support for students and faculty. There are two systems utilized by GCE to provide these services.
Academic Services may include the following:
Program and Curriculum – GCE has a curriculum content department that provides design and conversion services to the company’s university partners. In collaboration with its university partners, the company assists with the program and course design by providing curricular assistance and recommendations with respect to content and techniques that make use of the available technologies and methods embodied in the learning management system. GCE developed a proprietary system to support these services.
Faculty and Related Training and Development – GCE provides faculty support, including recruitment, training and oversight services to its university partners. Under the direction of the company’s university partners and their academic leadership, it recruits and screens candidates, and schedule faculty based on university partner-created requirements. The company evaluates all faculty according to university partner standards and provide evaluation results, if requested. Many of the health sciences specific faculty development resources are accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training and the American Nurses Credentialing Center allowing faculty to earn continuing education credits.
Class Scheduling – GCE has a class scheduling department and has developed a proprietary system to provide these services to its university partners. The company’s scheduling software provides students the ability to set their class schedule and flexibility to make changes and create opportunities to complete courses in a myriad of online or onsite options. The company optimizes class size prior to course starts based on university partner standards, in order to maximize class resources and faculty utilization.
Skills and Simulation Lab Sites – GCE secures, develops and finances off-campus classroom and laboratory sites for use in various programs offered by its university partners, including the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN). Off-campus classroom and laboratory sites are branded for specific university partners and all classrooms, faculty, counselors, staff and specialized equipment are centralized and made accessible to every university partner student. The laboratories contain the latest in skills and simulation learning technology; including computer-based scenarios, hands-on work with physical simulators and internally developed Mixed Reality with state-of-the-art technology, which help students gain unique experiences in an alternative clinical setting.
Counseling Services and Support
The company provides counseling services and support, including one-on-one admissions, schedule and financial counseling and other support for prospective and current students at its university partners. The company offers financial aid processing as well.
Counseling Services and Support may include the following:
Admissions Services – GCE provides prospective students with transparent information on program requirements, finance options, degree time to completion and net price calculator results in alignment with university partners’ standards. GCE has developed a robust proprietary system to efficiently evaluate transcripts and build schedules for prospective students. GCE processes applications in alignment with university partners’ admission standards and provides reports on those students selected for admission.
Financial Aid – GCE provides financial aid services, including awarding, certifying, originating and disbursing Title IV program funds to students. The company delivers Title IV program credit balance refunds to students, process return of Title IV program funds to the federal government when appropriate and provide financial aid counseling and entrance and exit loan counseling to students. Additionally, the company prepares required reports, including enrollment reporting to the National Student Loan Data system and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Additionally, GCE has built a proprietary system called the Financial Transparent Degree Plan Calculator, which provides students the cost of their entire program.
Counseling Services – GCE provides proactive services to the company’s university partners’ students throughout their matriculation, such as schedule building, and financial aid counseling. It provides students an assigned advisor who proactively works with students throughout their matriculation process. The company assists students with program changes and communicate with those students throughout their program to help with retention. It provides students with the ability to access a variety of administrative services both telephonically and via the Internet. For example, students can apply for financial aid, pay their tuition, order their transcripts, and apply for graduation online. This online accessibility provides the convenience and self-service capabilities that students value. GCE assesses levels of satisfaction using student surveys.
Field Experience Counseling – For university partner students pursuing programs that lead to external credentials (e.g., teaching, nursing, counseling, social work, theology, etc.), GCE leverages a growing nationwide network of approved healthcare facilities, schools, preceptors, and supervisors to ensure that all students are able to meet program-specific requirements. Each student is assigned a counselor before or during their first course, and several prescribed appointments with their counselor are scheduled throughout the student’s program to ensure that all state-specific progression requirements are met well in advance of deadlines. GCE assists in gathering all required documentation, verifying it as official, and storing it as part of the student’s record.
Marketing and Communication
The company provides marketing and communication services that include lead acquisition, digital communication strategies, brand identity advertising, media planning and strategy, video, data science and analysis and other promotional and communication services.
GCE’s marketing leadership team approaches the marketplace with an outlook that applies the latest advancements in integrated marketing strategy and new and emerging technologies while leveraging GCE’s buying power. This methodology embraces proven traditional and online solutions that are developed in conjunction with its university partners.
Marketing and Communication services may include the following:
Lead Acquisition – GCE’s marketing team employs experts across a wide breadth of digital marketing channels. These include Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Optimization, organic content and strategic acquisition funnels across a variety of mobile markets.
Digital Communications Strategy – GCE’s subject matter experts utilize best-in-class technologies through marketing automation, integrated email, SMS text messaging and social media. GCE develops effective communication strategies that encompass the entire student lifecycle from prospect through alumni.
Brand Identity – GCE’s award-winning team of specialists have proven track records of developing strong brands and ensuring the right image is exposed to the consumer. GCE specializes in storytelling shaped by logo creation, positioning taglines, campaign and content development, custom music, and sonic branding.
Media Planning and Strategy –GCE offers full-service media planning and strategies that are built to grow sophisticated brands through traditional and digital media platforms. GCE understands today’s culture and how content is consumed in the everchanging world of media. GCE creates robust strategies that build long lasting connections with proven results.
Video – GCE’s team of in-house video experts specialize in high-quality content expanding across a wide variety of marketing channels. Capabilities include broadcast-quality commercials, explainer videos, mini- and full-length documentaries, original programming, animations, motion graphics, and short, stackable video content for a variety of social media channels. GCE enhances its internal team with preferred partners to help offset workload and provide scalability of production requirements.
Business Intelligence and Data Science – GCE employs a team of in-house data analysis professionals who apply descriptive and prescriptive analytics to help understand the marketplace and facilitate important business decisions. GCE specializes in all aspects of data analytics and science, including predictive modeling, data mining and visualization to enrich today’s technology and data-driven marketplace, while providing the information required for success.
Market Research – GCE’s market research professionals survey market, population and job data for various locations across the country in order to make data-driven recommendations for new sites, partnerships, and educational offerings that will maximize reach and impact and provide education and career training to the areas where it will be most impactful.
Back-Office Services
In addition, the company provides certain requested back-office services to GCU that include finance, human resources, audit, and other corporate functions.
Finance and accounting - Finance and accounting services include administration of payroll, accounts payable, general ledger, student accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, and taxes at the direction of GCU.
Human Resources - Human resources services include administration of performance management, personnel policies, recruitment and onboarding of new personnel, and benefit plan design and procurement, among others.
Audit - Audit services include development and administration of a GCU approved annual internal audit plan and execution of the audit plan for the service period.
Procurement - Procurement services include management of purchasing and vendor relationships, including travel services, review of vendor contracts, and maintenance of contracts in the procurement system.
Seasonality
The company’s service revenue normally fluctuates due to changes in its university partners’ enrolment, which tends to be higher in the Spring and Fall periods and lower in the Summer.
Regulation
The company’s operations are subject to regulation by ED due to its university partners’ participation in the federal student financial aid programs under Title IV of the HEA.
The company is also regulated (depending upon the applicable activity being regulated) by other federal agencies or departments, including the SEC, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
GCU, the company’s most significant university partner, is authorized to offer programs by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education, the regulatory agency governing private post-secondary educational institutions in the State of Arizona, where it is located. Its most significant university partner, GCU has been regionally accredited by the HLC.
The company’s university partners institutions are subject to announced and unannounced compliance reviews and audits by various external agencies, including ED, its Office of Inspector General, state licensing agencies, the applicable state approving agencies for financial assistance to veterans, and accrediting commissions. It is also subject to program reviews from ED and the Office of the Inspector General.
History
Grand Canyon Education, Inc. was founded in 1949. The company was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 2003.
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