BUSH TO REQUIRE DISCLOSURE OF DRUG OFFENSES FOR STUDENT AID

Washington --- The Bush administration says it will enforce a 1998 law
requiring college students to disclose drug convictions on the main
application for federal financial aid.

The law prohibits federal grants, loans or work assistance for at
least one year after a student has been convicted of possessing or
selling an illegal drug. But the Education Department under President
Clinton allowed applicants to skip the question on the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid.

"Congress passed a law. We're enforcing it accordingly," department
spokeswoman Lindsey Kozberg said Wednesday.

A national student organization that favors reformed drug laws said
the financial aid law hurts only low-income applicants, because
better-off students don't need federal aid. The group also said the
law unfairly singles out drug offenders while not asking about other
crimes.

"If you commit murder, rape, arson, . . . you still receive financial
aid," Shawn Heller said.

Heller is director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which favors
a "public health approach" toward drug use rather than jail sentences.
The group, which has chapters at 90 campuses, is financed largely by
organizations that are critical of the U.S. government's drug policy.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill to repeal the ban on
financial aid. The Senate does not have a companion bill.

Congress approved the measure denying financial aid to drug offenders
in 1998 as part of a massive reauthorization of higher education
programs. Rep. Mark Soude (R-Ind.) authored the amendment.

Under the law, a student convicted of drug possession is ineligible
for aid for one year after a first conviction, two years after a
second conviction and indefinitely after a third. Those convicted of
selling drugs are ineligible for two years after a first conviction
and indefinitely after a second.

After the 1998 law passed, the government's Free Application for
Federal Student Aid added a question asking students about convictions
for drug offenses. But when large numbers did not respond, the
Education Department blamed confusing wording on its forms and chose
not to enforce the law.

Education Secretary Rod Paige decided to enforce the law after
questions arose within the department about how to handle applications
that skip the drug question, Kozberg said. Also, the wording on
application forms and instruction sheets has been clarified, Kozberg
said.

The percentage of applicants who skip the drug question has
dropped.

About 279,000 people, or 2.8 percent of the 10 million applicants for
the 2000-01 academic year, didn't answer the drug question, the
department said. Another 9,114 answered that they had drug
convictions, with 1,745 of them being denied aid and another 7,369
receiving partial assistance.

Of the 3.9 million applications so far for the 2001-02 academic year,
only 11,000, or 0.28 percent, have skipped the question, the
department said. The number of applicants acknowledging drug
convictions was not available.