Laura Green is to be commended for raising awareness of the Higher Education Act's denial of student loans to youth convicted of drug offenses. Instead of empowering at-risk students with a college degree, HEA limits career opportunities and increases the likelihood that those affected will resort to crime. Speaking of crime, convicted rapists and murders are still eligible for federal student loans. Most students outgrow their youthful indiscretions involving illicit drugs. An arrest and criminal record, on the other hand, can be life-shattering. After admitting to smoking pot (but not inhaling), former President Bill Clinton opened himself up to "soft on drugs" criticism. And thousands of Americans have paid the price in the form of shattered lives. [continues 118 words]
Many of you may be surprised to learn students with drug convictions have been blocked access to federal financial aid as a result of a little known provision of the Higher Education Act (HEA) called the Aid Elimination Penalty, or Drug Provision. To date, nearly 200,000 students have been denied or had their federal loans, grants and work-study delayed because of the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty. Until early 2006, this penalty was applied to any drug conviction a person had received, whether or not they were in school when the offense occurred. Due to the efforts of the organization Students for Sensible Drug Policy (ssdp.org) who worked with Congress to scale back the law, now only people who are convicted while in college and receiving financial aid can have their eligibility taken away. [continues 421 words]
