Federal Judge Strikes Down Minnesota Law Barring Religious Colleges from Popular College Credit Program for LGBTQ+ and Non-Christian Discrimination
In a significant ruling, US District Judge Nancy Brasel determined that religious institutions requiring students to adhere to a statement of faith cannot be excluded from Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program. This decision overturned a 2023 state law, deemed an infringement on religious freedom, which had aimed to protect high school students who are not Christian, straight, or cisgender.
The ruling was a triumph for two conservative Christian colleges in the state – Crown College in St. Bonifacius and the University of Northwestern in Roseville. These institutions mandate their students to uphold the school’s values and conduct rules, thereby effectively barring non-Christian or LGBTQ+ students from campus activities.
The PSEO program, established four decades ago, allows high school students to earn college credits at no cost through state funding, with the courses remaining nonsectarian. Over 60,000 students have participated in the program.
The Department of Education had attempted to ban the faith statement requirement since 2019, but it was successful only in 2023 when Democrats gained control of both legislative houses and passed broad new protections for LGBTQ+ rights as part of a broader education funding bill.
A group of parents and high school students who were or intended to earn college credits at these schools subsequently filed a lawsuit challenging the law, asserting it infringed upon their First Amendment rights by denying access to the program at institutions aligning with their values.
Represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, they celebrated the ruling, stating: “Minnesota sought to deny educational opportunities to thousands of high school students solely because of their faith. This is not just unlawful – it’s shameful.”
The state attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judge Brasel explained that the dispute required examination of the “delicate constitutional interplay between religion and publicly-funded education.” She stated that, in accordance with US Supreme Court rulings, the First Amendment grants special protection to religious organizations, and while states are not obligated to subsidize private education, once they do, they cannot disqualify religious schools.
Beyond declaring the faith statement ban unconstitutional, Brasel also dismissed a related nondiscrimination requirement that prohibited participating schools from basing admission on gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs.
Both parties agreed earlier that the ban would not be enforced during the court case and any subsequent appeals.
In 2021, Northwestern was Minnesota’s largest provider of classes through the PSEO program, receiving over $33 million in funding from the state between the academic years 2017–18 and 2022–23. Crown College received nearly $6 million during this period.
This ruling marks the second time in a week that a judge has declared unconstitutional a controversial law enacted in 2023 and 2024, when Democrats held control of both legislative chambers and the governor’s office. On Monday, a state court judge nullified a 2024 ban on “binary triggers,” devices allowing a gun to fire upon both pulling and releasing the trigger, which violated a requirement under the state constitution that bills address only one subject.