WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court said it will consider whether state scholarship monies can be used to pay for theological education.

The case involves a student who was awarded a Promise Scholarship funded by Washington state, according to a news report in The Seattle Times.

Joshua Davey of Spokane enrolled at Northwest College in Kirkland in 1999. He planned to study at the Assemblies of God institution to become a minister. His $1,125 state-funded scholarship was rescinded by the state, which cited a ban on funding theology education.

Washington is one of 15 states that bans state spending for theology education.

In 2000, Davey, who has since graduated from Northwest College, filed suit in federal district court, which ruled in the state's favor. But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 that the state's scholarship criteria was discriminatory and effectively suppressed "religious points of view," the newspaper reported. The court ruled the state violated the First Amendment's guarantee of free exercise of religion and the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause.

The state appealed the 9th Circuit opinion, prompting the Supreme Court's review.

Bill Collins, a state assistant attorney general, said the case is about funding, not about freedom of religion.

"The only thing that we've declined to do is pay for (Davey's) theology degree," Collins told the newspaper. "Deciding not to fund a constitutional right does not violate a constitutional right."

Davey's lawyers disagree. Stuart Roth, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a Virginia-based public-interest law firm, said the state's policy unfairly infringes on freedom of religion rights.

"It targets people of religious expression for discrimination," Roth said. "I think this case does have national impact."

The case is likely to be heard in December, but a decision is unlikely to be released before June 2004 because the court typically releases opinions after adjourning for the year, the newspaper reported.