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Nature of Business | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Nature of Business |
Nature of Business | 1. Nature of Business Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, the “Company” or “GCE”) is a publicly traded education services company. Prior to July 1, 2018, GCE owned and operated Grand Canyon University (the “University”), a comprehensive regionally accredited university that offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs, emphases and certificates across nine colleges both online and on ground at its campus in Phoenix, Arizona, at leased facilities and at facilities owned by third party employers of its students. On July 1, 2018, the Company sold the University to Grand Canyon University, an Arizona non-profit corporation formerly known as Gazelle University (“GCU”). As a result of this transaction (the “Transaction”), GCE became an education services company focused on providing a full array of support services to institutions in the post-secondary education sector. GCE provides education services, that include technology and academic services, counseling services and support, marketing and communication services, and for its largest university partner several back-office services such as accounting, reporting, tax, human resources, and procurement services. GCE has developed significant technological solutions, infrastructure and operational processes to provide services to these institutions on a large scale. See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for a full description of the Transaction. On January 22, 2019, GCE acquired, by merger, all of the outstanding equity interest of Orbis Education Services, LLC (“Orbis Education”), an education services company that supports healthcare education programs for 22 university partners across the United States, for $361,184, net of cash acquired (the “Acquisition”). The Company financed a portion of the purchase price through a credit facility provided by a consortium of banks led by our existing bank group. See Note 3 to our consolidated financial statement for a full description of the Acquisition. As a result of the Transaction and Acquisition, the Company no longer owns and operates an institution of higher education, but instead provides a bundle of services in support of its 22 university partners. GCE was formed in Delaware in November 2003 as a limited liability company, under the name Significant Education, LLC, for the purchase of acquiring the assets of the University from a non-profit foundation on February 2, 2004. On August 24, 2005, the Company converted from a limited liability company to a corporation and changed its name to Significant Education, Inc. On May 9, 2008, the Company changed its name to Grand Canyon Education, Inc. The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries were historically used to facilitate expansion of the university campus prior to the transaction.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99393423&loc=d3e5967-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134479 + Details
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