LEGITIMACY OF AID AMOUNT LIES WITH NUMBERS, NOT VALUES

I think this article kind of missed the point of FAFSA. Although I
agree with the moral standpoint in the article, I don't think that
FAFSA is trying to regulate morality through disbursement of
financial aid.

The determination of qualification is not based on some morality test
after all, but on income. Last I checked people couldn't make a lot
of money selling alcohol. If someone is selling drugs and not
reporting that income, is a great injustice to those of us who either
qualify for less aid or do not qualify for any because we have a
legitimate job. If FAFSA is using that case-by-case determination to
determine whether the subject had enough drugs to be a distributor,
or only a user, then I think it is a necessary loophole.

I do not think someone who was caught with a small amount of
marijuana for personal use should lose their funding, but if they are
selling, they are taking financial aid from those who don't have a
supplemental income. They are also not reporting this income to the
IRS or any programs from which they might be receiving aid. It seems
like a numbers question more than a moral question.

Taressa Stone, accounting senior