Grand Canyon Education, Inc. has hired Vince Grell as Executive Vice President of University Partnerships to oversee its expansion initiatives as the newest and largest (by virtue of student enrollment) company in the online program management (OPM) industry. GCE already has the largest client in the OPM industry due to its partnership with Grand Canyon University (GCU), a private, Christian university with enrollment of more than 95,000 students. GCU was a small nonprofit university from its inception in 1949 until 2004, when it found itself $20 million in debt and about to close its doors. Under the umbrella of Grand Canyon Education, the university implemented a unique financial model based on investment and a hybrid campus environment with traditional 18-year-old students on its Phoenix campus and working adult students attending online.