DRUG CONVICTIONS WILL COST COLLEGE STUDENTS

CLEVELAND - About 36,000 college students won't get federal financial aid
and low-interest loans this fall because of drug convictions.

Under a law that is being fully enforced for the first time this year,
students convicted of drug possession become ineligible for federal
financial aid for one year. Students convicted of selling drugs can lose
aid for two years.

Students deemed ineligible can be reinstated for aid if they undergo a
rehabilitation program that includes random urine tests.

But critics say the law does not define rehabilitation and that such
programs are often costly. They also argue that the law amounts to a second
punishment.

The law, a provision of the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1998, went
into effect last fall but is being fully enforced for the first time this
school year.