BUSH LIKELY TO ENFORCE DRUG RULE IN FINANCIAL AID BIDS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- People who fail to answer a drug conviction question on
federal college financial aid applications may be denied the money.

Hundreds of thousands of applicants who did not answer the question were
not automatically denied aid during the Clinton administration despite a
law saying they should have been. Bush administration officials said they
are reviewing that policy.

"We're 95 percent certain that the Bush administration will not let people
get away with not answering the question," said Dave Borden, executive
director of the Washington-based Drug Reform Coordination Network, which
opposes a policy change.

The legislation that took effect in July withheld grants, loans or work
assistance from people convicted, under federal or state law, of possession
or sale of controlled substances.

A first offense possession conviction makes a student ineligible for aid
for one year after the date of conviction and a second offense for two
years. A third possession conviction results in indefinite ineligibility.
Regulations are tougher for drug sale convictions.

"Someone who commits murder or armed robbery is not automatically barred
from financial aid eligibility," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who
introduced a bill yesterday to repeal the law. "But if you have even one
nonviolent drug conviction, you can't get any aid for a year."

Frank's legislation will be a tough sell. His attempt last year failed, and
there's no indication sentiment has changed.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., who sponsored the financial aid
drug law, said he's "more hopeful about the Bush administration enforcing
this as intended than the way the Clinton administration implemented it."

Of 9.6 million federal aid applicants for the 2000-01 school year, 836,360
did not answer the question. They were sent letters instructing them to do
so. Most answered no and their applications were processed, but 8,620
answered yes and were denied. Another 278,205 never responded, but their
applications were not automatically rejected, according to the Education
Department.