Another Step Closer For CCU Student Scholarship Eligibility
The state of Colorado has decided not to contest a recent federal appeals court ruling that allows students at Colorado Christian University to receive state financial aid. State Higher Education Director David Skaggs and Attorney General John Suthers announced on Friday that the state would not take the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On July 23, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a previous decision by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education that classified CCU as "pervasively sectarian," a decision that according to Colorado law barred the University's students from receiving state aid. The appeals court ruled that the state erred in distributing financial aid to students at certain religiously affiliated schools but not those deemed pervasively sectarian. State funds had already been awarded to students enrolled at the University of Denver, a Methodist school, and at Regis University, a Jesuit school.
The appeals court ruling opens the door for CCU students to receive state aid. It might create the possibility that Colorado would end aid to all religiously affiliated colleges and universities; however, Skaggs commented that it is too soon to say what position the state higher education department would take on such a proposal.