GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY WRAPS UP 75TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR WITH LARGEST NUMBER OF GRADUATES IN ITS HISTORY

Record 2024-25 class of 31,104 graduates helps address several nationwide workforce shortages

PHOENIX, April 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand Canyon University will wrap up its 75^th Anniversary school year with the largest number of graduates in its history.

GCU will have a 2024-25 graduating class of 31,104 students – with 5,669 of those taking classes on the Phoenix campus and another 25,435 who studied online. Graduates were split almost evenly among students completing a baccalaureate degree (15,890) and those earning a graduate degree (15,214). It is also the fourth straight year GCU has produced roughly 30,000 graduates.

The class includes those who completed their degrees in Summer 2024, Fall 2024 and projected graduates from Spring 2025. GCU will celebrate the graduating class during commencement ceremonies on April 23-25 for traditional students and April 29-May 2 for online students.

"This year's record-breaking graduating class reflects the dedication of our exceptional students, the unwavering support of our faculty and staff, and our commitment to offering innovative educational opportunities across multiple delivery platforms," said GCU President Brian Mueller. "Whether through in-person classes, online learning, hybrid models or accelerated pathways, our flexible approach allows us to connect with students no matter their life circumstances. Increasingly, more and more families are seeking these opportunities, especially when taught from a Christian worldview perspective."

Among the record 2024-25 graduation class, a significant number will be entering professions in which there are nationwide workforce shortages. That includes 8,684 graduates in the teacher education field, with 3,619 of those being first-time teachers; 5,277 in nursing; and 5,274 in social work/counseling/behavioral health.

"Our focus remains on partnering directly with employers to help them address their workforce shortages, especially in critical sectors like education, healthcare, technology, engineering, social work, counseling and the military," Mueller said. "While many universities have scaled back programs amid declining enrollments since the pandemic, GCU has introduced 148 new academic programs, emphases and certificates across our 10 colleges, all aligned with current labor market demands."

Among other highlights from the 2024-25 school year:

• Enrollment at GCU was nearly 25,000 on the Phoenix campus, with another 98,000+ students studying online.
• GCU's Center for Workforce Development (CWFD) expanded its offerings and announced a new Intensive Manufacturing Specialist Pathway in partnership with TSMC and West-MEC. The pathway will equip students with the essential skills and hands-on experience needed to excel in the semiconductor industry. Additionally, CWFD and Rosendin Electric expanded the Pre-Apprenticeship for Electricians Pathway into Austin, Texas, which was identified as an area with a growing construction industry and a need for construction electricians.
• GCU added three more Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program sites in Meridian, Idaho; St. Louis, Missouri and Albuquerque, New Mexico – bringing the total number of sites to nine alongside its other locations in Chandler, Phoenix, Tucson and Sun City, Arizona; Henderson, Nevada; and Sandy, Utah. The university is on track to open one more site next month as it continues to add programs in order to address the country's nursing shortage. Students in the hybrid program can earn their degrees in as little as 16 months.
• The university received a five-year, $2 million grant from the T.W. Lewis Foundation to establish the T.W. Lewis Center for Student Success at the Colangelo College of Business. The grant is funding a full-time director, specialized curriculum, a speaker series featuring successful Christian leaders and expanded career connection programs for students, including online students and alumni.
• GCU opened a new police substation on 27th Avenue to help ongoing efforts of reducing crime in the area. Over the past decade, the university has invested $170 million along 27th Avenue on redevelopment efforts, including the GCU Hotel, Canyon Ventures business incubator space, a GCU CityServe warehouse that has provided over $15 million worth of free household goods to 74,000 families in need, a Learning Lounge site offering free tutoring and full-tuition scholarships to K-12 students, the Grand Canyon Seminary, Canon 49 Restaurant, an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program site and other office space.
• The university celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a Week of Service in the fall that featured over 1,000 opportunities to serve across 40 different ministries. GCU also hosted the first ever Amethyst Gala, which raised approximately $1.5 million to benefit the university's ambitious Five-Point Plan to transform the west Phoenix community it calls home.

About Grand Canyon University: Grand Canyon University was founded in 1949 and is Arizona's premier private Christian university. GCU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers 349 academic programs, emphases and certificates for both traditional undergraduate students and working professionals. The University's curriculum emphasizes interaction with classmates, both in-person and online, and individual attention from instructors while fusing academic rigor with Christian values to help students find their purpose and become skilled, caring professionals. For more information, visit gcu.edu.

SOURCE Grand Canyon University