Pubdate: Tue, 07 Feb 2006
Source: Technician, The (NC State U, NC Edu)
Copyright: 2006 The Technician
Contact:  http://technicianonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2268
Author: Manisha Dass
Cited: ACLU http://www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/
Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.DAREgeneration.com
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)

AID ELIGIBILITY CHANGES

Congress gave in after seven years of voting against financial aid
eligibility for college students who have had drug convictions

Congress gave in after seven years of voting against financial aid
eligibility for college students who have had drug
convictions.

The Higher Education Act originally stated any students applying for
aid with a drug conviction would not be considered for eligibility.
The law has affected more than 175,000 students. Representatives from
the Students for Sensible Drug Policy agree that although this is a
step in the right direction, it's a bittersweet victory.

"If the student is in college and gets convicted, they're financial
aid gets ripped away," Tom Angell, the campaigns director for SSDP,
said.

Angell said although SSDP is happy to get the law repealed to an
extent, their hope is to get the law repealed in full.

"While we are happy that some students are going to get their aid
back, tens of thousands will be left behind without the money they
need to go to school," he said.

Angell and the SSDP plan to continue to fight, work in Congress and
with the ACLU to try and fight for students who have been denied
financial aid.

Julie Mallette, the associate vice provost and director of
scholarships and financial aid, doesn't know of any students that will
be affected at N.C. State.

"We have never had that many rejections for financial aid at NCSU, so
I guess we have a lot of clean kids," she said.

Mallette said the administration and officers in financial aid have
never particularly liked the denial of financial aid to students with
drug convictions.

According to Mallette, there is no logic in rejecting someone's
financial aid who has a drug conviction and not someone who has any
other conviction.

"If convictions for other illegal acts are not a problem, then why
drug convictions?" Mallette said.

Mallette also commented on the relevance of financial aid and
convictions.

"Other students [who] can pay out of pocket can come, but if a student
is poor and needs financial aid, they cannot come."

Laura De Castro, a sophomore in Spanish and political science, agrees
with administration in financial aid and SSDP.

"I feel if you deny someone from getting financial aid for higher
education, more negative actions are being supported," De Castro said.

De Castro said an individual who's already been admitted into a
university and gets a drug conviction should not be eligible for
financial aid, especially if the individual has previous drug
convictions.

"If someone has gotten into an institute of higher education, I would
expect their level of intelligence to be high enough for them to make
proper decisions," she said.

According to De Castro, if an individual has a history with drug
convictions and repeated offenses, his or her aid should be denied.

"If the occurrence is a once in a lifetime mistake, it's not fair to
deny financial aid, and in essence, higher education," De Castro said.

De Castro sees a viable solution as setting a limit on how many
convictions an individual can obtain before being denied financial
aid.

"It's just not fair to someone who gets caught with drugs once and
learns [his or her] lesson," she said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake