PLENTY OF LOOPHOLES LET DRUG OFFENDERS QUALIFY FOR COLLEGE AID

Washington- A week ago, Chris Burnside was a University of Toledo senior
cut off from federal financial aid because of a 2002 drug conviction - or
so he thought.

His family made sacrifices, including postponing his father's retirement,
so he could go to school.

It turns out that some of the sacrifices may not have been necessary. To
Burnside's shock - and possibly to the surprise of thousands of others -
the law that penalizes drug offenders by denying them college aid has
plenty of loopholes, and purposely so. In fact, someone can get busted
tomorrow and still get loans or grants for next fall.

"I had no idea, so I'm pretty excited," Burnside, 24, formerly of Elyria,
said after learning from a Plain Dealer reporter that the law was not as
onerous as he thought.

His misconception is shared by young people, and their parents, across the
country. Many are too poor to afford college without financial aid and are
not enrolling as a result, according to several members of Congress.

It's practically gospel in some circles: If you have a drug conviction, you
can forget about getting financial aid.

The misconception is so widespread that colleges such as Ohio State
University say potential applicants with past drug busts aren't bothering
to apply.

Drug offenders, however, are not automatically denied aid, according to the
U.S. Department of Education and several financial-aid directors.

Under the law in effect since 2000, first-time drug-possession offenders
are ineligible for federal financial aid for one year after their
conviction, or two years if their first offense is for selling drugs.
People with multiple offenses are subject to harsher penalties.

But even these penalties can be sidestepped by completing an acceptable
drug rehabilitation program. The program must include at least two random
drug tests and be financed or recognized by institutions the U.S.
Department of Education approves of.

"I think the feds have done a nice job of making students able to regain
their eligibility," said Rachel Schmidt, Cleveland State University's
financial-aid director.

There's only one problem: many people don't follow through with the
financial aid process long enough to realize they can regain eligibility.
Many would-be applicants see the question about drug convictions on the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid and stop right there.

Applicants who answer "yes" or don't answer the drug question aren't
automatically disqualified. Instead, the Education Department sends them a
worksheet with the guidelines for regaining eligibility. If they can show
they have completed rehab or the time limit on the conviction has expired,
they can be eligible for aid.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a group with chapters on college
campuses, estimates that more than 160,000 students have either been denied
aid or stopped applying because of the drug-conviction question. But exact
figures are not known because it is impossible for universities to say how
many applicants stop cold without filling out and returning the worksheet.

"Because the question exists, it's a huge deterrent," said Chris Mulligan,
campaign director for the Coalition for Higher Education Reform, which
offers a scholarship for students denied aid.

Numerous civil-rights and education organizations, including the NAACP and
a national association of financial-aid officials, want the question about
drug convictions removed from aid applications. Those groups are counting
on Congress for such a change. So far, support for such measures has been
one-sided.

Rep. Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, reintroduced a bill on March
9, with no Republican support, that would eliminate drug questions from
federal financial aid applications. Frank introduced similar legislation
last year, but without Republican support, the bill failed.

The Republican chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee,
Rep. John Boehner of West Chester, Ohio, has his own idea. He wants to
clarify the drug provision so it would affect only students convicted while
already receiving aid. Even then, Boehner would offer the same tools to
regain eligibility.

Lawmakers are trying to walk a line between sending anti-drug messages and
giving convicts a second chance.

"Education is the single-most-important tool we have to lift families from
poverty and strengthen our nation," said Doug Gordon, a spokesman for Rep.
Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Cleveland, who is a member of the Education
Committee and wants change. "It must not also be used to punish those who
need it most."

When Burnside was trying to reassemble his life after his drug-trafficking
conviction in Elyria, he said, higher education "enlightened" him.

He earned his associate degree from Lorain County Community College in 2003
before enrolling at the University of Toledo, where he is set to graduate
with a degree in communications this year.

In the meantime, Burnside is busy organizing a University of Toledo chapter
of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which opposes drug provisions on
federal financial aid applications.

"Just because I'm lucky enough to go to college, it doesn't give me the
right to forget about this," he said. "From what I see, the only true
rehabilitation is education."