Paxton Sues to End Three Texas College/University Work Study Programs

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced today (Nov. 14, 2025) that he has filed suit seeking to end three Texas college/university work study programs overseen by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Paxton claims that these three programs unconstitutionally discriminate against religious students, including Christians and sectarian employers:

• Texas College Work-Study Program.

• Texas Working Off-Campus: Reinforcing Knowledge and Skills (Works) Internship Program.

• Texas Innovative Adult Career Education (ACE) Grant Program.

Paxton claims that the programs violate the First Amendment by excluding religious organization and students receiving religious instruction from state funds and otherwise requiring state-funded activities to be “nonsectarian.”

Said Paxton: “This amounts to a wholesale exclusion of certain people — no matter how otherwise eligible — from state benefits under the program based solely on the religious character of their course of study. Recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent and case law has made clear that this kind of discrimination is unlawful.”

Paxton names (in their official capacities) as defendants Texas Higher Education Commissioner Dr. Wynn Rosser and the nine voting coordinating board members — and the board’s nonvoting university student representative.

Read Paxton’s legal filing here.