9th Circuit thwarts attempt to stop students from using financial aid at Christian colleges

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Friday against an attempt by activists to prevent students from directing federal tuition assistance to educational institutions that share their religious beliefs. In the case Hunter v. U.S. Department of Education, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent three Christian post-secondary schools: Corban University, William Jessup University, and Phoenix Seminary.

“Federal law explicitly protects the freedom of religious schools to live out their deeply held convictions, and we’re pleased this legal victory protects Christian colleges’ fundamental rights,” said ADF Senior Counsel Chris Schandevel. “A group of activists asked the court to strip that protection away from schools that educate the next generation and advance the common good. And the 9th Circuit correctly held that the religious-liberty exemption in Title IX, which applies to schools receiving federal financial assistance, is consistent with the Constitution.”

An activist group filed the lawsuit in 2021 to prevent any students from using tuition grants, student loans, and any other federal financial assistance at schools that operate according to their religious beliefs on gender and sexual morality. In January 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon allowed the three Christian schools to intervene to defend the relevant provisions of Title IX. Among other things, Title IX allows students to use federal financial aid at private religious schools that operate according to their beliefs.

In its opinion, the 9th Circuit noted that legal precedents supporting the position of the schools represented by ADF demonstrate “a continuous, century-long practice of governmental accommodations for religion that the Supreme Court and our court have repeatedly accepted as consistent with the Establishment Clause. The examples provided by the Department demonstrate that religious exemptions have ‘withstood the critical scrutiny of time and political change.’”

The court further wrote that “the exemption seeks to accommodate religious educational institutions’ free exercise of religion. The free exercise of religion is ‘undoubtedly, fundamentally important.’”

• Pronunciation guide: Schandevel (SHAN’-deh-vell)

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

# # #