Luther Rice College and Seminary v. Riley
Description: Georgia officials are excluding Luther Rice College and Seminary from participating in student financial aid programs widely available to other colleges, harming high school and college students as a result. While the state allows private and religious colleges to participate in such programs, Georgia excludes schools that state officials consider a “school or college of theology or divinity.” Luther Rice is one such school that Georgia has barred from participating in student financial aid programs because it has a religious mission, awards religious degrees, and teaches all of its courses from a Christian perspective.
Georgia excludes students from state aid who choose to attend Christian college
ATLANTA – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Georgia officials for excluding a Christian college from participating in student financial aid programs widely available to other colleges, harming high school and college students as a result.
Georgia offers student financial aid programs to help students cover tuition costs for undergraduate degree programs at Georgia colleges and universities. While the state allows private and religious colleges to participate in such programs, Georgia excludes schools that state officials consider a “school or college of theology or divinity.” Luther Rice College and Seminary, whom ADF attorneys represent, is one such school that Georgia has barred from participating in student financial aid programs because it has a religious mission, awards religious degrees, and teaches all of its courses from a Christian perspective.
“By unlawfully discriminating against Luther Rice’s religious beliefs, Georgia officials are ultimately hurting the state’s students,” said ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker, director of the Center for Christian Ministries. “Georgia high school students can’t receive dual credit by taking classes at Luther Rice; college students who choose Luther Rice are denied much-needed financial aid available to students at other colleges. On behalf of all Georgia’s students, we are urging the court to uphold Luther Rice’s constitutional protections by guaranteeing that the school can fully participate in student aid programs while still adhering to its religious beliefs, character, and exercise.”
Luther Rice, located near Atlanta, is a Christian, private, nonprofit college that offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degree programs. It offers three undergraduate degree programs: an Associate of Arts in General Studies, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Religion.
Georgia allows other religious schools—including schools that offer religious undergraduate degree programs like Luther Rice—to participate in the programs, but it has excluded Luther Rice. Because of that exclusion, no Luther Rice student can receive state student aid for any degree or course, not even for its general studies or psychology programs. And no Georgia high school student can receive dual credit at Luther Rice.
As the lawsuit explains, Luther Rice faces a choice between maintaining its religious mission and degree programs and teaching all courses from a Christian worldview or giving up that religious character and exercise to participate equally with other schools in the state.
“Putting the school to that choice is unconstitutional,” said ADF Legal Counsel Andrea Dill. “By denying the school participation in Georgia student aid programs because of its religious character, beliefs, and exercise, the state is penalizing the school and its students based on their religion—discrimination that, as the U.S. Supreme Court has found, is ‘odious to our Constitution.’”
ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit, Luther Rice College and Seminary v. Riley, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
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.
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ABOUT Ryan Tucker
Ryan Tucker serves as senior counsel and director of the Center for Christian Ministries with Alliance Defending Freedom. He oversees all litigation efforts to maintain and defend the constitutionally protected freedom of churches, Christian ministries and religious schools to exercise their rights under the First Amendment. Prior to joining ADF, Tucker engaged in private practice for over 16 years with a litigation boutique law firm in San Antonio, Texas, eight of those as a partner. His portfolio included all aspects of civil litigation, both state and federal, with a particular focus on commercial and complex business disputes. Tucker earned his Juris Doctor at Baylor Law School, where he was a senior editor of the Baylor Law Review. He obtained his bachelor of business administration in management at Texas A&M University, where he graduated cum laude. A member of the state bar in Texas and Arizona, Tucker is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal district and appellate courts.
ABOUT Andrea Dill
Andrea Dill serves as legal counsel for the Center for Christian Ministries at Alliance Defending Freedom. Before joining ADF, Dill worked as an associate at a large law firm in Washington, D.C. where she focused on intellectual property litigation. In that role, she gained experience with trial, depositions, discovery management, and motions practice. Dill received her J.D. in 2019 from Duke University School of Law, where she served as an articles editor for the Duke Law Journal. After law school, she clerked on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Dill received a B.S. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University in 2014. She is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and Texas.