Relative to prohibiting state Medicaid payments to facilities that discriminate against employees, students, or trainees for exercising lawful medical or religious vaccine exemptions.
I am here to share the experience of a New Hampshire student in 2025 whose vaccine exemptions were repeatedly disregarded by a public college program.
In April of 2025, this student was accepted into a program at NHTI. She promptly paid her deposit, submitted all required paperwork on time, and paid her full tuition in August. She complied with every procedural requirement asked of her.
From the very beginning, she was transparent about having legal medical vaccination exemptions—exemptions that are recognized under New Hampshire law.
At the program’s in-person open house on August 18, the student met with her instructor specifically to confirm that her exemptions were known and that she would be placed at clinical sites that recognize them. The instructor admitted she had not reviewed the student’s submissions but said she would “do her best.”
The very next day, the student received an email stating that no exemptions would be accepted for clinical placement and that there was “no workaround.” Within 24 hours, the instructor followed up by instructing the student to withdraw from the program.
The student refused to voluntarily withdraw simply because the program did not want to accommodate her lawful exemptions.
On the first day of class, the instructor demanded a one-on-one meeting during the student’s lunch break. The student called in her mother to help explain the legal basis for the exemptions. The instructor was forceful and unequivocal: no exemptions would be honored, and the student needed to leave the program. Despite repeated requests, the instructor refused to explore clinical sites that recognize exemptions.
Later that same day, the student received another email reiterating that she would not be placed clinically and suggesting an appeal—while attaching program documents that nowhere state that legal exemptions are prohibited.
Over the following weeks, the student was repeatedly singled out in front of classmates for private meetings, creating a hostile and intimidating environment. On one occasion, instructors were overheard discussing her as “the one that is exempt.”
By November, the instructor told the student she was no longer confident she could place her clinically at all—placing the student’s education, tuition, and future at risk.
Only after multiple clinical sites independently confirmed that they do recognize legal vaccine exemptions did the student finally begin receiving placements.
This experience was not just stressful—it demonstrates how vague policies, misinformation, and unchecked discretion can be used to pressure students out of public programs for exercising lawful rights.
