HANNIBAL, Mo. (BP) – A lawsuit brought by Hannibal-LaGrange University against the U.S. Department of Education was settled last week after the DOE issued new guidance making the lawsuit unnecessary.
The suit, filed in May of last year, was in response to a 2024 rule change stating that program participation agreements (PPAs) for private, nonprofit institutions must be signed by “an authorized representative of an entity with direct or indirect ownership of the institution if that entity has the power to exercise control over the institution” alongside an authorized representative of the institution.
Hannibal-LaGrange said such a requirement was “discriminatory and unconstitutional” for both the school and for Missouri Baptists, who appoint the school’s trustees but do not assert “ownership” over it.
“This regulation didn’t just misunderstand Baptist polity,” said Hannibal-LaGrange President Robert Matz in a press release Feb. 6. “It attacked it. The regulation treated churches like corporate owners and assumed that spiritual oversight must come with financial liability. That’s foreign to Scripture, to Baptist life, and to the First Amendment.”
The 2024 regulation denied Hannibal-LaGrange students denied Pell Grants for incarcerated students enrolled in Hannibal-LaGrange’s prison education program. In the meantime, Hannibal-LaGrange has absorbed $700,000 to provide education for those students – money that is not likely to be recovered.
“This settlement is a necessary victory, not a complete one,” Matz said. “Students were harmed. Churches were put at risk. The fact that the University had to sue at all is a reminder that religious freedom requires constant vigilance.”
The lawsuit argued the regulation violated the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by forcing institutions to weaken their religious governance as a condition of federal program participation, the school’s release said. And since the association of Missouri Baptists holds no assets, the requirement brought no additional financial security to the federal government.
“This settlement confirms a critical principle,” said Jonathan R. Whitehead, Hannibal-LaGrange legal counsel. “Federal student aid participation cannot be used as leverage to dismantle religious governance.”
The agreement clarifies that the Missouri Baptist Convention will not be forced to provide financial guarantees for Hannibal-LaGrange, Missouri Baptist University, or Southwest Baptist University simply because it appoints their trustees.
And while the agreement pertains to Hannibal-LaGrange specifically, its principles apply broadly to similarly structured Baptist institutions across the U.S.
“This case was never about paperwork,” Matz said. “It was about whether Christians would be free to educate the next generation in faithfulness – without the government forcing them to cut ties with the very churches that make the University’s mission possible. HLGU stood because standing was required.”
Related posts:
FIRST-PERSON: Why I’m asking the department of education to protect religious liberty at Christian universities 
FIRST-PERSON: John Walker’s proceedings & questions of justice 
GOP debate: Trump’s proposed Muslim ban challenged FIRST-PERSON: A look through the Bible on educating young children 
Frank Page: Be God-empowered in a fallen culture N.Y. mayor renews pledge to churches 
How parents can engage local public schools 
Judge strikes state law that banned religious schools from college credits program
