Since the founding of the United States, religious education has been a part of our country’s fabric. And to some people’s surprise, the founding fathers were not afraid of using public funding to support religious schools.
But as time has gone on, more and more government officials have wrongly interpreted the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause to require limiting government funding for religious persons or institutions. As three students in Virginia are now experiencing, this discriminatory logic does nothing but harm religious Americans.
Pursuing religious callings
Cameron Johnson graduated from Wilson Memorial High School in Fishersville, Virginia, in 2025. He played on the varsity baseball team and excelled academically during his time in high school. But most importantly, he prioritized his Christian faith.
Cameron was actively involved in his local church, and he participated in his county’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes program. Cameron wants to continue growing in his faith, which is why he will attend Liberty University in the fall of 2025 and major in Pastoral Leadership. To help pay for his education, he applied for a Tuition Assistance Grant from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
Similarly, Luke Thomas graduated from Cosby High School in Midlothian, Virginia, in 2025. He was a member of the men’s choir, chamber choir, and spotlight show choir. Like Cameron, he is deeply committed to his Christian faith.
Luke will also begin attending Liberty in Fall 2025, and he plans to major in Music and Worship because it is a program where he can follow both of his passions. He, too, wants to apply for a Tuition Assistance Grant.
Finally, Trace Stevens is a Private First Class in the Virginia Army National Guard. Like Cameron and Luke, he is a Christian who wants to follow God’s command to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In 2023, Trace graduated from Bruton High School in Williamsburg, Virginia. While he initially planned to enlist in the active-duty Air Force after graduation, he felt God calling him to pursue a college education to help prepare him for a future career in ministry.
Trace met a Virginia Army National Guard recruiter at his high school, who told him that the National Guard Grant Program could assist him with paying for college if he joined the National Guard. He decided to join, and in the fall of 2024, he enrolled at Liberty to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Religion.
Unfortunately, state officials have determined that Cameron, Luke, and Trace cannot receive the grants they are seeking because their chosen majors are too religious.
Virginia policies discriminate against religious students
The Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program provides non-need-based grants to Virginia residents who attend private, non-profit colleges or universities. The State Council determines the amount of the Tuition Assistance Grant annually based on the number of eligible students and available funds. For the 2025-26 school year, the award amount for a in-person undergraduate students is $5,250.
But the program excludes educational tracks that “provid[e] religious training or theological education.” Even though Liberty University students are eligible for the grant program, Virginia officials have determined that Cameron and Luke’s chosen majors are categorically excluded from it.
Cameron applied for a Tuition Assistance Grant and was denied because the State Council considered his chosen major too religious. Luke is currently an “undeclared” major, but he will declare his major no later than October 2025 so that he can enroll in the courses that he must take in the Music and Worship program for the spring 2026 semester. Because of the State Council’s religious exclusion, Luke will also be denied a Tuition Assistance Grant for the spring 2026 semester and subsequent semesters.
For Trace, the Virginia Department of Military Affairs oversees the Tuition Assistance Grant Program for members of the Virginia National Guard. This program is available to any Virginia National Guard member who has at least two years of service remaining, has completed basic training, is satisfactorily performing his or her duty in the National Guard, and is enrolled at an eligible institution.
The program defines an eligible institution as “any public institution of higher education or accredited nonprofit private institution of higher education whose primary purpose is to provide collegiate or graduate education and not to provide religious training or theological education.”
The Department of Military Affairs determined that Liberty meets these requirements. But Virginia officials unilaterally determined that Trace’s major is ineligible for the program because of its religious nature, and they denied him the grant that he was otherwise qualified for.
Religious Americans are not second-class citizens
By excluding Cameron, Luke, and Trace from grants that they are otherwise qualified for simply because they have chosen religious majors, Virginia officials are violating the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that religious Americans cannot be treated worse than other Americans.
These three students should not have to abandon their chosen religious studies—something that they believe God has called them to pursue—simply to be treated equally to other students.
In May 2025, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional policies of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Virginia Department of Military Affairs that deny tuition grants for programs that state officials deem too religious.
Religious freedom is a hallmark of American society, and students shouldn’t have to fear that living out their beliefs will create financial barriers for their education.
Johnson v. Fleming
- May 2025: ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging Virginia policies that deny tuition grants to students in programs labeled as “religious training or theological education.”
