Christian colleges are celebrating proposed policy changes by the department of education.
Advocates for Christian Higher Education are praising the news that the Department of Education plans to review regulations “regarding the eligibility of faith-based entities to obtain grants from the department or to participate in state-administered programs.”
The notice goes on to cite the need to make federal regulations consistent with current law, a vague reference that could point to last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer. The justices ruled religious entities could not be excluded from certain government programs just because they are religious.
No one seems clear about what that could mean for Christian colleges.
But that didn’t stop Christian Higher Education leaders from praising the new, friendlier overtures coming from the Trump administration.
Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities said, “Eliminating or revising regulations that impose undue and outdated restrictions on religious institutions is an important and welcome development.”
One Obama-era action that could get the ax: The published list of Christian universities that have religious exemptions to some Title IX regulations. The list was published under the guise of preventing students from attending those schools without knowing their positions on sexuality and gender identity. But leaders at Christian colleges argued the list amounted to government discrimination against them.