VICTORY: Federal appeals court rules in favor of Vermont parochial school student

In August 2020, a student who attended a Roman Catholic high school applied for public funding to attend the University of Vermont through the state’s dual enrollment program, but was denied “solely because of her school’s religious status,” according to the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Though a district court initially ruled against the student, an appeals court reversed the decision on January 15.

As Campus Reform previously reported, then-Attorney General William Barr’s Department of Justice filed a brief in favor of the student, arguing that Vermont violated the student’s First Amendment rights by excluding her from the program.

Alliance Defending Freedom — which filed an amicus brief on behalf of the student — celebrated the decision.

“Vermont officials can’t treat people of faith as second-class citizens by excluding them from generally available public benefits,” said ADF legal counsel Jake Warner. “When the government allows same-district students from public schools, secular private schools, and homeschools to participate in its dual enrollment program but excludes only students from religious private schools, it discriminates against religious students.”