Supreme Court to hear Colorado religious preschool funding case

The nation’s highest court on Monday agreed to hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, along with some parents and parishes within the archdiocese, against Colorado education officials. The state in 2022 created a universal preschool program offering families 15 free hours at a qualifying public or private school of their choice. But Catholic preschools were not included in the program due to their requirement that enrolling families adhere to Catholic faith, including its teachings on sex and gender, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which legally represents the archdiocese.

The state’s decision affected more than 1,500 children attending about 30 different Catholic preschools in Colorado, according to the Becket Fund. Parish preschool enrollment in the Denver archdiocese declined about 20% since the program began, the group said.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2025 rejected the archdiocese’s First Amendment claims and upheld the state’s position. The appeals court ruled that Colorado was not preventing funds from being used for religious education, but was instead universally requiring schools in the program to adhere to the provisions of its nondiscrimination law regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

What questions is the Supreme Court being asked to consider? Justices will decide whether the Colorado requirements for participation in the program are constitutional, based on previous precedent that requires rules affecting the free exercise of religion to be universally applied to everyone. Becket attorneys plan to highlight the fact that Colorado allowed secular preschools in the program to limit their admissions based on students’ gender identity or race, according to court documents. The Supreme Court will also consider whether the Colorado program explicitly excludes religious people and institutions.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on Christian counselors’ reactions to the Supreme Court’s decision against Colorado in Chiles v. Salazar.