Grand Canyon University

Choosing what to study and where to spend your next four years isn't easy. You want to find the right degree program, the right club to join, the right dorm to live in - all in an environment that you can call your own. After all, college is not just about the next four years, but how it will prepare you for the rest of life. If you've made it here, now ask, what makes GCU stand apart from the rest.

Grand Canyon College was chartered on Aug. 1, 1949, with 16 faculty and approximately 100 students in Prescott, AZ. In 1951, the college relocated to a 90-acre tract in West Phoenix and was accredited in 1968 by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education.

Established as a Baptist-affiliated institution with an emphasis on religious studies, the school initially offered bachelor’s programs in education. Programs expanded to include the sciences, nursing, business, music and fine arts. It was during this time when the college started to develop a reputation for producing effective teachers, nurses and healthcare professionals in the Southwest.