Pubdate: Thu, 20 Oct 2005
Source: Daily Campus, The (UConn, CT Edu)
Copyright: 2005 ThesDaily Campus
Contact:  http://www.dailycampus.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2778
Author: Andrew Porter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)

US CT: EDU: PROVISION OF HIGHER ED. ACT UNDER REVIEW

Provision of Higher Ed. Act Under Review

A specific provision of the Higher Education Act, which is being 
re-examined by Congress this year, has come into question because of the 
restrictions it places on the ability of students to get Federal Financial 
Aid for secondary education if they have had a drug conviction.

According to the current form of the Higher Education Act, anyone applying 
for federal aid with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 
must answer Question 31 which states, "Has the student ever been convicted 
of possessing or selling illegal drugs?" and goes on to clarify with the 
following information, "A federal law suspends federal student aid 
eligibility for students convicted under federal or state law for 
possession of or sale of illegal drugs (not including alcohol and tobacco). 
If the answer to this question is 'Yes,' you will be taken to the Question 
31 Worksheet to help you determine whether this law affects the student's 
eligibility for federal student aid. Count only federal or state 
convictions. Do not count convictions that have been removed from his/her 
record. Do not count convictions that occurred before the student turned 
18, unless he/she was tried as an adult."

Under the current Higher Education Act, any applicant that answers yes to 
Question 31 will automatically be denied any federal loan for secondary 
education, including Pell Grants and Stafford Student Loans.

In September 2005, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a 
report on Federal Drug Policy that examined the Higher Education Act. It 
found that 0.3 percent of all applicants responded yes to Question 31 on 
the 2003-2004 FAFSA form and as a result were ineligible to receive federal 
aid.

The report also stated that the 2003-2004 FAFSA form resulted in 18,000 
students being denied $45 million dollars in Pell Grants and 29,000 
students being denied between $100 to $120 million in student loans.

The GAO report also stated that although some officials at the Office of 
National Drug Control and Prevention have stated that the Higher Education 
Act may help deter drug use, the GAO was unable to find any studies that 
assess whether or not drug use was actually being deterred.

The current Higher Education Act uses any drug conviction on an applicant's 
record to determine if they are eligible for aid with different punishments 
based on the amount of convictions. An applicant with one conviction for 
possession cannot obtain aid for one year, and an applicant with two 
convictions for possession cannot obtain aid for two years. Any applicant 
with three or more possession convictions would face an indefinite denial. 
The penalties are more severe for sale of a controlled substance, as one 
conviction results in a two-year denial, and two convictions result in 
indefinite denial.

Part of the president's fiscal year 2005 budget contains a proposal, which 
is supported by the Office of National Drug Control and Prevention, that 
would only make students ineligible to receive federal loans if they were 
convicted for possession of a controlled substance while enrolled in higher 
education.

Currently, the law is coming under fire from groups like Students for 
Sensible Drug Policy, who feel there is no sensible reason to further 
punish those convicted for drug use. In a press release, Students for 
Sensible Drug Policy cited a, "strong consensus among economists that 
formal education has a positive impact not only on personal income but on 
society."

"Congress' own researches failed to show that this discriminatory law does 
anything to solve our nation's drug problems," said Scarlee Swerdlow, the 
executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. "Preventing 
determined students from earning a college degree makes our streets less 
safe and undercuts America's economic productivity."

"Occasionally students will answer the question in error," said UConn 
Director of Student Financial Aid Services Jean Main, "They will give an 
error that indicates they're not eligible, [Student Financial Aid Services] 
will send them a letter saying, Did you answer this question in error? and 
based on that if they did answer it in error the student will correct their 
mistake and that makes them eligible."

Main said that out of the over 30,000 FAFSA applications received by UConn, 
only three were ultimately not received with a response allowing the 
applicant to be eligible for aid.

According to Main, UConn scholarships also follow the federal guidelines, 
so any applicant who disqualifies themselves on the FAFSA form would be 
ineligible to receive a UConn scholarship.

According to the FAFSA application, anyone who provides misleading 
information in an attempt to get financial aid could be fined up to $20,000 
and subject to jail time.

Main said, "Background checks are not conducted as part of the FAFSA 
application."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom