“We are grateful to Crown College for their continued work to provide top-notch, faith-led higher education here in the Sixth District. Access to education that reflects our religious is a right, and deserves to be protected,” Emmer said. 

“Thank you to the students, faculty and staff of Crown College for opening up their campus for today’s visit,” Emmer concluded. 

President Andrew C. Denton shared, “For over 100 years, Crown College has remained a boldly Christian college dedicated to our mission to provide biblically based education.  We are thankful to Congressman Emmer for supporting Crown as we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting our mission and our community’s deeply held religious beliefs.”

Crown College was founded in 1916 as a Bible college in St. Paul. Now operating from their campus in St. Bonifacius, they offer faith-guided in-person, online and graduate degree programs. The college also offers sixteen NCAA Division III teams, as well as internship and summer outreach programs.

Background: 

In May, Crown College and the University of Northwestern-St. Paul sued the Walz administration over language in the 2023 Minnesota higher education funding bill that would have exempted the schools from participating in the Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program because they required “faith statements.”

The PSEO program allows Minnesota students to earn college credits while still in high school.

Following the issuance of a temporary injunction from U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office announced that it would not enforce the funding bill’s provision disallowing schools with faith statements.

A statement from Emmer about the Walz administration’s discrimination against faith-based education is available here.

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