DRUG RECORD DISCLOSURES ON STUDENT LOANS GO INTO EFFECT

College students filling out their federal financial aid forms this
month must disclose for the first time whether or not they've been
convicted of drug possession or sale, crimes that could bar them from
receiving money. The measure designed to withhold federal grants,
loans and other money from college students with drug convictions
takes effect for the 2000-2001 school year, beginning July 1.

The new regulation was contained in a 1998 bill that reauthorized higher
education spending.

Most students are just finding out about question 28 on the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid and its costly consequences for
convicted drug offenders. Claretta Webb, president of the student senate at
the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said students already penalized
in the court system face an unfair second round of sanctions by education
officials. ``These people are trying to go to school now to do something
productive,'' said Webb. ``You're taking away an honest way for them to
better themselves. You might end up backing them into the same corner they
were in before.'' Holly Bradford, a graduate student at Lesley College,
said she's a prime example of what the chance to attend college can do for
a convicted drug felon and former addict.

After a 1986 drug bust resulted in eight convictions, she went through the
drug treatment program at North Suffolk Mental Health Association's
Meridian House in East Boston.

From there, she received a degree from Pennsylvania State University. She
now works as a counselor at the AIDS Action Committee in Boston. ``Without
my loans, I wouldn't have made it through college,'' said Bradford.
``College for me was about redefining myself and transformation. It was a
key to freedom. Higher education basically helped repair me.'' Under the
regulations, a person convicted of drug possession or sales can lose aid
eligibility for one or two years or indefinitely. Convictions that were
reversed, set aside, or removed from a criminal record do not count, nor do
juvenile offenses.

Students may be able to re-gain eligibility if they complete an authorized
drug treatment program.

Many state aid programs operate under the same requirements, said Clantha
Carrigan McCurdy, director of the state's Office of Student Financial
Assistance.

``We get a matching federal grant for our state program, so we adhere to
the same regulations,'' said McCurdy.

``A student applying for a Massachusetts grant program must be in
compliance with fed regulations in order to receive a state grant.'' This
year roughly 150,000 students will receive $94 million through a variety of
state loan and grant programs, McCurdy said. Financial aid officers
complain they're not sure how they're going to enforce the measure and they
aren't sure how many students will be affected. ``I'm hoping very few, but
I have no idea,'' said Emerson College financial aid official Pam Gilligan.

``It's not something we ask about on our admissions application,'' she
added.