Court: State can't regulate seminaries

.......The court noted the intent of the Texas Education Code is to prevent deception of the public by "degree mills," which it defines as schools granting "fraudulent or substandard" degrees. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board argued it was neutral toward all post-secondary schools, religious or not, by applying the same standards to all.

Yet, the court wrote, "The State cannot avoid constitutional impediments to setting substantive standards for religious education by making the standards applicable to all education institutions, secular and religious."

Further, the court opinion stated the state's requirement of "academic freedom" and "faculty 'independence'" conflicts with the doctrinal statement of a school such as Tyndale, which the court noted holds to biblical inerrancy and conservative theology. Such requirements unconstitutionally elevate one type of religious instruction over another, the opinion stated.........

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