Judge Strikes Down Minnesota Law Barring Religious Colleges From College Credit Program

A federal judge has ruled against a Minnesota state law that bars religious colleges from participating in a state program that allows high school students to earn college credits if the college requires students to sign statements affirming their faith.

In a 70-page ruling issued late on Aug. 22, District Judge Nancy Brasel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota concluded that a 2023 amendment to the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) was an unconstitutional violation of the religious freedom of those seeking to participate in the state’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program, which allows high school students to start earning college course credits early.

The decision follows a lawsuit filed in May 2023, shortly after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a law barring PSEO participation by such colleges.

Plaintiff parents Mark and Melinda Loe and parent Dawn Erickson filed the lawsuit challenging the state law, along with Crown College and the University of Northwestern–St. Paul. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represented the plaintiffs throughout the course of their legal challenge.

The plaintiffs had argued that Crown College and the University of Northwestern had been able to administer college course credits to high school students for more than 20 years before the 2023 state law brought that to a halt. The Loe and Erickson families further argued that the change in the law unfairly denied their children the right to participate in PSEO because of their religious beliefs.

In their 2023 complaint, the plaintiffs argued that multiple U.S. Supreme Court rulings have held that once a state opens up program participation and funding to private religious institutions, such as Crown College and the University of Northwestern, the state cannot later exclude participation based on religious grounds without also violating the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Proponents of the Minnesota law, by contrast, argued that it protected non-Christian and LGBT students.

In a July 2023 counterclaim, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison argued that Crown College and the University of Northwestern were the ones violating the First Amendment rights of prospective PSEO participants by requiring non-Christian high school students to disavow their beliefs and by requiring LGBT high school students to disavow their sexual orientations and gender identities by signing a “Declaration of Christian Community” statement.

Brasel, on Aug. 22, wrote that “the Schools’ PSEO admissions practices are exempt from the MHRA’s proscriptions against unfair discriminatory practices under the education exemption for ‘religious or denominational [institutions].'” She concluded her ruling by stating that the 2023 amendment to the MHRA should be stricken.

“This ruling is a win for families who won’t be strong-armed into abandoning their beliefs, and a sharp warning to politicians who target them,” Diana Thomson, senior counsel at Becket, said in a statement on Aug. 23 welcoming the judge’s ruling.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.