Senators introduce bill to protect financial aid for seminaries

U.S. Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced legislation Sept. 29 that would shield seminary and other religious-vocation programs from a federal rule that can strip a college program of Title IV student aid eligibility if its graduates earn too little, with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) among the groups backing the bill.

“A student who feels called to pastor a church or serve as a missionary should not lose access to student aid because Washington measures the value of that calling by a paycheck,” Lankford said in a statement announcing the bill.

The Religious Education Fairness Act would amend Section 454(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to exempt programs classified as “Theology and Religious Vocations” or “Philosophy and Religious Studies,” under federal education statistics categories, from losing Title IV eligibility over low graduate earnings, but only at colleges and seminaries that already qualify for a religious exemption under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

The bill responds to the Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment rule, an Education Department regulation finalized under the Biden administration in 2023 and then further amended by the Working Families Tax Cut Act of July 2026. The underlying regulation ties a program’s continued access to federal student loans and grants to how much its graduates earn relative to their debt. 

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and other backers argue the rule, intended to weed out low-value job-training programs, can also sweep in seminaries and divinity schools whose graduates go on to low-paying ministry or missionary work.

“Young people who go into ministry are not in it for the money,” Greg Baylor, ADF senior counsel and director of the organization’s Center for Religious Schools, said in a Sept. 30 statement. “Their calling is to serve God and to serve their neighbors, and the government shouldn’t punish students who pursue a religious vocation just because, in its judgment, they won’t earn ‘enough’ income.”

The bill’s backers include the USCCB, ADF, the Association for Biblical Higher Education, the Orthodox Union, the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges & Schools, the International Alliance for Christian Education, and the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities, according to the senators’ announcement. 

For Catholics pursuing the priesthood or religious life, existing student debt can present a separate barrier to formation. Many dioceses and religious orders require candidates to be free of education debt before entering the seminary or religious life. Organizations like the Fund for Vocations, the Laboure Society, and the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations help make that possible through fundraising or assistance.

When it comes to the cost of formation itself, most Catholic seminarians do not apply for or receive financial aid because the diocese or religious order covers the cost of tuition and room and board. This is funded via campaigns by the diocese or order and scholarships from the Knights of Columbus, the Serra International Foundation, and others.