Several Christian parents are taking legal action against Minnesota state officials after they made changes to a program that allows high school students to earn college credits, preventing some religious universities from offering this benefit on their campuses for free.
A legal case was initiated on May 24th in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. It claims that Minnesota violated the U.S. Constitution by modifying its Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program to exclude institutions that demand a faith statement or engage in discriminatory admissions practices based on race, religion, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, as reported by Fox News.
The PSEO
The PSEO program was introduced in Minnesota in 1985 to provide high school students with the chance to earn credits for both high school and college without paying any fees. The program's funding covers the expenses of tuition and course materials.
Last month, a new amendment was approved in the Minnesota legislature with support only from one Republican in the state Senate, while the rest opposed it. The amendment was signed by the Democrat Governor, Tim Walz, on the same day the lawsuit was filed. It will come into effect from July 1st.
The parents claim that their constitutional rights, particularly the freedom to practice their religion and equal protection under the law, were violated. They are receiving assistance from lawyers from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
Crown College and the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, which are Christian universities that high schoolers wished to attend, is also involved in the lawsuit as a plaintiff. The president of the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, Corbin Hoornbeek, mentioned that his university is the largest provider of PSEO in Minnesota and wishes to continue helping on-campus PSEO students succeed in their academic journey. He hopes that the court will allow them to do so, just like any other school in Minnesota.
The PSEO program has been highly successful in Minnesota, with thousands of high school students taking advantage of this opportunity every year. It allows them to earn college credits and get a head start on their academic journey while still completing their high school education.
However, the recent amendment passed by the state legislature has raised concerns among some parents and universities who feel that it discriminates against religious schools. The new law requires all colleges participating in PSEO to be accredited by one of six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
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Challenging the Amendment
This requirement could potentially exclude certain Christian institutions from participating in PSEO if they are not accredited through one of these agencies. This is seen as discriminatory towards religious institutions, which have different accreditation standards based on their faith-based values and beliefs.
The lawsuit filed by several parents and two Christian universities seeks to challenge this amendment as violating both constitutional rights for freedom to practice religion without discrimination or unequal treatment under the law. They believe that students should have access equally regardless of what institution they choose, especially when there isn't any cost difference between attending secular or non-secular educational programs
The outcome remains unclear at present, but many people will watch closely how things develop over the coming months since broader issues concerning funding for private schools may also come into play depending upon decisions made during litigation proceedings.
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