Topic: The Promise of Market-Driven Higher Education: Taking an Entrepreneurial Venture Public
Speaker: Brian Mueller, CEO, Grand Canyon University
Place: McCormick & Shmicks
Time: 11:30
Date: August 24th, 2009
Cost: $40.00

About the Presentation:
For the past five years, market-driven higher education has dominated the higher education marketplace. Despite public education having all the advantages - taxpayer support, tax exempt status, well-established tradition and legacies - universities have let competition overrun them because of their inability to meet their customers' needs. In today's economy, the ability of market-driven institutions to increase their offerings to meet customer demand has become integral to their growth and promise in a challenging economy. Over the past five years Phoenix-based Grand Canyon University has increased its enrollment and revenues by building a highly regarded online curriculum that serves students throughout the world, and enhancing its 60-year-old campus for traditional college students. Grand Canyon Education, the parent company of Grand Canyon University, late last year filed an IPO, ending a four-month IPO drought and beginning a new chapter in the institution's growth and prosperity as a publicly traded company.

About the Speaker:
As CEO of Grand Canyon University, Brian Mueller brings vast knowledge and experience in market-driven education from his 21 years at the highly successful Apollo Group (parent company of the University of Phoenix), where he was president. He oversaw the explosive growth of the University of Phoenix's online program, which was largely responsible for Apollo's strong stock performance. Mueller played an integral role in Grand Canyon Education's successful IPO, and his vision for a new model for higher education -- marrying the best assets of a traditional private university with the best assets of a for-profit institution -- is considered key to the anticipated success of Grand Canyon University as a major player in the higher education marketplace. Mueller's diverse background includes teaching high school and coaching high school and college basketball.

About Grand Canyon University
Founded in 1949, Grand Canyon University is a traditional regionally accredited, private, Christian university offering campus-based and online bachelor's and master's degree programs through the Ken Blanchard College of Business, College of Education, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and College of Liberal Arts. As an NCAA-competitive university, GCU offers more sports programs than any other higher education institution in Arizona. The Phoenix-based school is ranked as having one of the top online education programs by OEDb (Online Education Database). GCU emphasizes individual attention for both traditional undergraduate students as well as the working professional. For more information visit www.gcu.edu.