CHEYENNE -- A law passed by the Legislature in 2006 to stiffen the requirements for private post-secondary educational institutions is constitutional, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled today.

The uninamous opinion also upheld rules adopted by the Wyoming Department of Education to enforce the law.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Newport International University against the Wyoming Department of Education and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride.

The 2006 law, designed to discourage so-called "diploma mills," requires private, post-secondary, degree-granting institutions to become accredited within five years, to be licensed by the department and meet the department's minimum standards.

Newport International filed suit when the department rejected its renewal application.

For more, see Thursday's Casper Star-Tribune.