A financial aid-related rule would require churches to behave like” shareholders,” according to the president of the university.
A Christian organization in Missouri called on the Trump administration to intervene in response to a Biden-era legislation that it claims threatens religious liberty.
The legislation, which was approved in the flower of 2024 under President Joe Biden’s leadership, has to do with the governance of higher education institutions and the national student financial aid programs.
The” Co-Signature Mandate” poses a “direct threat” to the institution’s Christian mission, according to Robert Matz, president of the private school.
Federal officials “at the close of the Biden management” attacked both our institutions ‘ freedom and our temples ‘ religious freedom, Matz wrote on Friday in the Baptist Press.
He demanded that Linda McMahon, the minister of knowledge, and the U.S. Department of Education, acknowledge the seriousness of this situation and take immediate action to protect both HLGU and other religious institutions across the country.
According to the Courier-Post News, the Biden-era legislation altered the process by which higher education institutions had sign the Program Participation Agreement in order to be eligible for student financial assistance under Title IV.
According to the studentaid statement on the studentaid website, a PPA allows universities to “participate in the student financial assistance programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act ( Title IV programs ).” gov. A signed partnership between a school’s leader, CEO, or governor and an official representative of the Secretary of Education is required for a PPA.
But, the new rules added a requirement for proprietary or private nonprofit organizations to signify co-signature.
Matz claimed to Matz that the Missouri Baptist Convention’s temples select the university’s governors. He claimed that the regulations do make these churches” to run like an investment company.”
” If a for-profit organization has shareholders and there is definition on student loan, those shareholders may be liable for that definition,” he said. However, they’ve changed from applying it to for-profits, and they’re then saying parishes are like owners.
The document continues:
The college filed an appeal, but the Department of Education stated that it would only do so if the Missouri Baptist Convention stopped appointing directors.
The agreement is a business conference that takes place for two days in October, according to Matz, one of the things we’ve said to the Department of Education, Matz explained. They request names from the convention’s CEO, COO, and CFO, but they don’t exist, and we’ve told them. Their original expression was” simply find the man who’s most like that.” We’re like,” That’s not how this is organized,” because each person is a separate entity from the other. What the procedure accomplishes is to maintain the vision that Missouri Baptist have always had for Hannibal-LaGrange, keeping it a Christian college.
Our organization now experienced damage as a result of this mandate, Matz wrote at Baptist Press.
If not for the dispute, the school could have received more than$ 500, 000 in funding for its new prison learning program, and it stands to lose even more unless the issue is resolved, he wrote.
The co-signature mission, if fully implemented, may make it illegal for individuals to choose HLGU over HLGU with Title IV funds only because of HLGU’s affiliation with Missouri Protestants, he wrote.
Matz claimed that college leaders were collaborating with the Kansas City branch of the training division on the issue, but the Trump administration just ended it.
He cited two of President Donald Trump’s most new executive orders, which protect religious liberty, as a sign that the federal government will review the situation and taking action.
Matz claimed that the school is also thinking about filing a lawsuit.
Beyond Christians, this religious rights issue is. According to him,” Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and another faith-based universities rely on their ability to freely organize and appoint directors according to their spiritual ideas.” He after added,” It sets a dangerous precedent – empowering federal authorities to interfere with the inner governance of religious institutions nationwide.
The College Fix emailed a request for comment from the U.S. Department of Education, but the company for media relations did not respond right away.
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