Blue state ban forbidding religious colleges from dual-credit program violates Constitution: lawsuit

A group of Christian parents has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota state officials over an amendment to a state dual-enrollment program that bars some religious universities from offering high school students free on-campus college credits.

The lawsuit, filed May 24 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges the state of Minnesota violated the U.S. Constitution by amending Minnesota's Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program to shut out institutions that "require a faith statement from a secondary student seeking to enroll in a postsecondary course" or "base any part of the admission decision based on a student’s race, creed, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexual orientation or religious beliefs or affiliations."

Minnesota's PSEO program rolled out in 1985 to offer high school students the opportunity to collect both high school and college credits at no cost. Money from the program helps pay for tuition and class materials.