A law by Minnesota governor and former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz banning some faith-based universities from offering free college credits to high school students in the midwest U.S. state of Minnesota’s pre-college credit program has been challenged in a federal court on Monday (Dec. 9) by a group of Christian parents and schools.
The Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program had been created by Minnesota in 1985 to help high school students earn tuition-free college credits. It has enabled thousands of students to enroll in the state’s universities and helped their future careers by making education affordable.
However, the state authority recently amended the PSEO stature so that religious universities could no longer be eligible if they required a statement of faith from students—affecting countless Christian young people. The new requirement prevents them from learning within a Christian faith environment at academic level.
Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket Law, a non profit public interest law firm based in Washington DC supporting the Christian parents, spoke of the crippling effect of the law on thousands of high schoolers simply because they have a Christian faith.
“That’s disgraceful: the state should be helping educate its students, not cutting them off from opportunities that will allow them to grow,” Baxter said. “We’re confident the court will strike down Minnesota’s ban for good.”
The group of Christian parents, guided by Becket Law, sued the state authority in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in May last year (2023) to ensure that religious students can use PSEO funds to receive an education at the school of their choice despite the state authority’s continued insistence “to argue that these families and schools should be left out of the program,” according to a Becket Law press release.
In June 2023, Minnesota’s state attorney pledged to not enforce the law while the court case is ongoing, but filed counterclaims alleging the Christian schools violated the federal constitution as supposed “state actors,” according to Becket Law. These claims were fought in a federal court on Nov. 6 (2023) by the schools that asked the court to dismiss the claims.
Parents Melinda and Mark Loe, and also Dawn Erickson, wanted their children to use PSEO funds to attend two Christian schools in Minnesota: University of Northwestern - St Paul, and Crown College. However, access to the higher education facilities are barred for the families because of the cutback to the PSEO program for students of faith.
“We raise our children to put their faith at the center of everything they do,” said Mark and Melinda Loe.
“Unfortunately, Minnesota is depriving kids like ours of the opportunity to get a head start on college at schools that embrace their faith. We hope the court will strike this law down and protect all religious students and the schools they want to attend.”
“For over a century, Northwestern has existed to offer students a Christ-centered education that prepares them to serve in the home, church, community, and the world,” said Corbin Hoornbeek, president at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul.
“Minnesota wants to single out our university because of this unique campus culture which integrates faith and learning. We pray the court will recognize that and continue to allow us to help on-campus PSEO students flourish in their faith and education.”
Andrew Denton, president of Crown College, said the education facility remained committed to providing all students the tools they need to excel intellectually and spiritually through biblically-integrated education.
“For decades, we have been grateful to extend this opportunity to young students who seek to join our Christian community through the PSEO program,” Denton added. “We pray that the court will continue to allow every student in Minnesota to use PSEO funds at the school that best meets their needs and matches their values.”
