The Freedom From Religion Foundation is disappointed with a federal court ruling striking down Minnesota’s attempt to ensure equal access for high school students in a publicly funded college-credit program.
On Friday, Aug. 22, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel blocked a 2023 law that prohibited religious colleges participating in Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program from requiring students to sign discriminatory faith statements. That law was passed to protect students, particularly LGBTQ+ and non-Christian students, from being forced to pledge adherence to religious dogma in order to take otherwise secular courses.
Two conservative Christian colleges, Crown College and University of Northwestern–St. Paul, sued to overturn the provision, with the backing of the Christian legal group Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The institutions require students to sign statements opposing same-sex relationships and other personal freedoms, such as non-Christian beliefs, as a condition of participation in campus life. Students even had to acknowledge that they “can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Brasel’s ruling highlights that both schools have received sizable reimbursements from the state through the Minnesota program. Since the 2017–2018 school year, Northwestern and Crown have received $33,248,093.18 and $5,751,053.65, respectively, in state funds for providing the Postsecondary Enrollment Options courses — taxpayer money funneled to institutions that openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ and non-Christian students.
FFRF filed an amicus brief in the case urging the court to uphold Minnesota’s protections for students.
“This law is neutral and generally applicable,” explains FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “It simply requires that all colleges receiving taxpayer funds treat students equally, regardless of religion, gender, or sexual orientation. No school should get a license to discriminate on the public dime.”
FFRF’s brief argued that Minnesota has a compelling interest in ensuring public funds are not used to subsidize religious discrimination. High schoolers seeking to earn college credit often select institutions based on factors such as location, course offerings or faculty, not religious identity. Forcing students into religious conformity in order to access publicly funded credits violates fundamental principles of equality and church-state separation.
In her ruling, Brasel reasoned that the Faith Statement Ban singled out religious requirements for exclusion. While colleges could still require students to make nonreligious commitments, such as agreeing to abide by an honor code, they could not require students to attest to specific religious beliefs. She concluded that the ban restricted Postsecondary Enrollment Options admissions practices “because of their religious motivation,” citing Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah.
“The court’s ruling dangerously expands the special privileges of religious institutions while undercutting the rights of students,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Minnesota’s law was a common-sense safeguard ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not used to exclude or stigmatize young people. This decision sends the wrong message — that religious schools can impose discriminatory litmus tests while benefiting from public money.”
The state of Minnesota may appeal the ruling. FFRF will continue to support efforts to protect equal access and plans to file a brief with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if the decision is appealed.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including 900 members and a chapter in Minnesota. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
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