If you have been convicted of possession of a narcotic (not including alcohol or tobacco), you may have your hands full when requesting financial aid from school.
A law called The Higher Education Act (HEA) was signed into law over three decades ago by President Lyndon Johnson to open the door to a college education for students to whom it had previously been closed to, more specifically, drug offenders.
The Act is generally reviewed and updated by Congress to ensure adequate funding and access to college for millions of Americans. Yet the 1998 revision to the HEA included a new provision that blocked college opportunities to students revealing drug convictions on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
According to information on the Raise your voice website (www.RaiseYourVoice.com), a site that is fighting to have this law removed, a high number of college students who are drug offenders are ineligible for financial aid.
Many students even choose not answer the question regarding whether or not they were a drug offender on their FAFSA.
In the year 2001-2002, if that question (question 35) was not answered, their application would not be reviewed. This year 60,805 students have answered “yes” to the drug question on the FAFSA form.
Of those answering “yes”, 2,954 returned follow-up worksheets revealing partial disqualification. Over 47,000 were actually denied financial aid because of past drug convictions this year.
Director of Student Affairs here at Cerritos College, Philip C. Rodriguez, said, “The irony is that people convicted of murder are eligible for financial aid, but if you are a convicted drug offender, you aren’t.”
Many groups, including one that led a protest in Sacramento on September 23, are trying to fight the denial of financial aid to drug offenders.
Tanya Price, a Cerritos College student thinks, “It’s wrong for people to be judged on their past. Whether through a drug conviction or not. People have the right to an education and that’s why financial aid exists. To help us get just that. We as a community, have the right to try and make something better of ourselves.”
