by our College Data Analytics TeamGrand Canyon University is a private not-for-profit institution in Phoenix, Arizona enrolling 73,371 undergraduates. It accepts 79% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 43%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,202 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 23%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Grand Canyon University ranks #1,202 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 23%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Grand Canyon University was awarded 7 badges in the 2027 rankings.
GCU is ranked #1,202 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list.
GCU is also ranked #12 on the Best Colleges in Arizona list.
See all of the rankings for Grand Canyon University.
Grand Canyon University has an acceptance rate of 79%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 1% of students accepted to GCU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 518 and 580. Math scores were between 488 and 533.
GCU received ACT scores from 1% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 20 and 22.
Learn more about Grand Canyon University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Grand Canyon University is 20 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Grand Canyon University is 10%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Grand Canyon University is 72%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At GCU the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 43%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Grand Canyon University.
During the most recent academic year, there were 73,371 undergraduates at GCU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Grand Canyon University.
The average net price of GCU is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $18,557 | $18,763 | $21,712 | $24,471 | $25,701 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of GCU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At GCU, approximately 53% of students took out student loans averaging $7,759 a year. That adds up to $31,036 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 12.5%. This is higher than the national default rate of 10.1% so you should proceed with caution when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Grand Canyon University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Grand Canyon University make around $42,186 per year during the early years of their employment. Unfortunately, this is 14% less than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, graduates in your major field may make more.
See which majors at Grand Canyon University make the most money.
Grand Canyon University is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Phoenix, Arizona. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of Grand Canyon University.
Contact details for Grand Canyon University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 3300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85017 |
| Phone: | 8008009776 |
| Website: | www.gcu.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/GrandCanyonU |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/gcu |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 23 majors graduated from Grand Canyon University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 29,813 | NA |
| Nursing | 4,938 | $84,827 |
| Business Administration & Management | 3,197 | $55,415 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 3,056 | $38,771 |
| Mental & Social Health Services | 2,216 | $39,181 |
| Special Education | 1,688 | $42,607 |
| Educational Administration | 1,454 | $59,525 |
| Human Services | 1,258 | $32,131 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 1,035 | $50,829 |
| Community Organization & Advocacy | 890 | $31,651 |
66,660 students took at least one online class at Grand Canyon University.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Grand Canyon University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to GCU? Pit them head to head with College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.