Mauck
Baker,
LLC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 16, 2015
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Bible colleges file lawsuit against Illinois Board of Higher Education
(Chicago, Illinois—Jan. 16, 2015) The Illinois Bible Colleges Association filed a federal lawsuit today against the Illinois Board of Higher Education for restricting Bible colleges from issuing bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. Colleges and universities must receive state approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education by meeting certain requirements for course content, credit hours and credentials of faculty before they can operate and grant degrees. Illinois is one of several states in the U.S. that does not provide adequate exemption for post-secondary religious institutions.
“We should all agree that the state does not have the authority to set the educational standards for Bible teachers, pastors and other religious vocations,” said Dayspring Bible College and Seminary President Jim Scudder Jr. “Nor should the state limit the options for students seeking an affordable religious education to the bigger schools that pass on the substantial costs of state approval through higher tuition.”
Dayspring Bible College and Seminary has joined with several other Illinois Bible colleges to file the lawsuit against the IBHE citing multiple violations of the First Amendment and the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Mauck & Baker, LLC, a Chicago-based law firm advocating for religious organizations and ministries will represent the Bible colleges against the IBHE. Alliance Defending Freedom, a non-profit legal organization that advocates for religious freedom, has provided financial support for the lawsuit. “Thousands of Illinois teenagers want, but cannot afford higher education,” said Mauck & Baker attorney John Mauck. “This litigation, if successful, will cut through much of the overregulation that the IBHE is now required to enforce and enable churches and religious institutions to start new or expand existing Bible colleges and post-secondary religious schools. It is time we save Illinois taxpayers and religious groups the expense of unnecessary regulation and to give teenagers broader choice and more affordable educational opportunities to keep them from leaving the state.” View the complaint.
For press inquiries, contact attorney John Mauck at 312-853-8709 or jmauck@mauckbaker.com and Jim Scudder, Jr. at (224) 677-7800 or president@dbc.edu .