September 3, 2004

For the Love of God (and Money)

Investors say they will retain an evangelical college's religious character while turning a profit

By Burton Bollag

Grand Canyon University was delivered from financial ruin earlier this year by a group of investors. In the bargain, a small Christian institution on the brink of insolvency became the first for-profit Christian college in the United States and a springboard for the investors' plans to build a giant higher-education business.

The investors' cash has been welcome, but it has also generated concerns about whether the traditional Christian mission can coexist with the new imperative to