Religious schools can’t be barred from credit program over faith statements, judge rules

August 26, 2025

A federal judge has struck down restrictions blocking the participation of faith-based colleges in a dual-enrollment program in Minnesota as unconstitutional, opening the door for high school students to receive college credit for work completed in high school.

The Christian Post reports that U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Brasel’s ruling on Friday was a victory for parents seeking to allow their children to earn postsecondary education credits at faith-based institutions of higher learning.

The lawsuit had challenged amendments passed in 2023 to the decades-old law establishing the Postsecondary Enrollment Options program.

Those changes clarified that eligible institutions “must not require a faith statement from a secondary student seeking to enroll in a postsecondary course under this section during the application process.”

The amendments also prohibit schools from basing “any part of the admission decision on a student’s race, creed, ethnicity, disability, gender, or sexual orientation or religious beliefs or affiliations.”

In her decision, Brasel said the 2023 amendments violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Freedom of Conscience Clause of the Minnesota Constitution.

Brasel added, “The Faith Statement Ban is inseverable from the Nondiscrimination Requirement, and so the Amendment must be stricken in its entirety.”

According to the Christian Post, the ruling comes after more than two years of litigation from two Christian Colleges and Minnesota parents who wish to have their children earn PSEO credits at a faith-based institution.

Mark and Melinda Loe were two of those parents and said, “Minnesota tried to take that right away from us by denying kids like ours the opportunity to attend schools that reflect their faith. We are grateful for this ruling, which protects students across the state and the schools they want to attend.”

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