Liberty University Student Petitions Supreme Court Over Tuition Grant Denial

Attorneys representing Liberty University student Bethany Hall have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge a state policy that denies tuition assistance to students pursuing religious studies degrees. Hall, who lost her Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant after switching her major to music and worship, argues that the state’s exclusion of religious degree programs constitutes unconstitutional discrimination.

The legal challenge seeks to overturn the 2004 Supreme Court precedent established in Locke v. Davey, which previously permitted states to exclude religious studies majors from public funding programs. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had cited this ruling when deciding against Hall. Legal counsel for the student, including the Alliance Defending Freedom and the National Legal Foundation, contend that recent Supreme Court jurisprudence has shifted, making the exclusion of religious students from state-funded programs a form of hostility toward religion.

Josh Davey, the plaintiff in the original 2004 case, is now part of the legal team representing Hall. The petitioners argue that the state should not distinguish between secular and religious degrees when distributing educational aid, asserting that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment requires equal treatment for students regardless of their religious calling.