This week the Minnesota House of Representatives passed an omnibus education finance bill with a provision that would exclude religious colleges and universities from participating in the state’s PSEO program. This change would affect thousands of students and their families and would blatantly discriminate against faith-based institutions. The Senate companion bill does not currently contain this language, but the Senate education policy bill does.
Roughly one in four PSEO students in Minnesota take classes at a religious college or university. They are not required to take courses at a religious school, but choose to do so. For some, this decision is driven by a desire to pursue particular programs and courses. For others it is based on location, ease of transfer to their target school, or the school’s values. In each case, it is a choice that is freely made for the sake of pursuing the best educational options for their family and their circumstances.
The state is not required to offer postsecondary enrollment options. Minnesota is one of only a handful of states that does. This program makes college more affordable and gives students the opportunity to begin working on toward a degree while still in high school. If the state chooses to fund this program, it does not get to discriminate against religious schools, which is exactly what this bill would do.
Renee Carlson, General Counsel of Minnesota Family Council’s True North Legal commented,
During one of the hearings on the bill a representative said this bill seeks to remedy exclusion of others—a bill that disqualifies religious colleges adhering to a Statement of Faith from participating in Minnesota’s PSEO. The bill is about exclusion—excluding colleges and individuals based on their religious beliefs, inconsistent with state and federal law. Nothing could be more exclusionary than the categorical denial of services based on an individual’s or school’s religious belief. Penalizing young students and faith-based schools for their religious beliefs is wrong! Minnesota students deserve more choices not less. This kind of hostility toward people of faith should not be codified into law.
Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act already excludes “sectarian” courses from PSEO eligibility. The wording in the Omnibus education bill goes much farther than that, banning schools from participating in the PSEO program simply for having a statement of faith that they expect students to acknowledge. This is a clear case of religious discrimination, and flies in the face of court precedents. Just last summer the Supreme Court ruled in Carson v. Makin that the state of Maine could not exclude religious schools from its school choice programs.
Similarly, in February a federal court upheld the religious freedom of colleges and universities that accept federal tuition grants and student loans to maintain policies that are consistent with their religious convictionson marriage and sexuality.
Despite clear legal precedent barring religious discrimination, legislators continue to propose policies that are at odds with these rulings. How many more cases must make their way through the federal courts before legislatures stop passing laws that impose state-based religious discrimination?
