STUDENTS WITH DRUG CONVICTIONS WILL SOON BE DENIED FINANCIAL AID

A new rule from the U.S. Department of Education will require students
applying for federal financial aid to disclose any prior drug convictions.

Scheduled to go into effect July 2001, the policy will deny federal
financial aid - including the Pell grant, the Stafford and Perkins loans
and work study - to students who admit prior drug convictions. The
restriction will have dramatic effects for students, according to education
experts and financial aid administrators.

"UCLA students will definitely be affected because not everybody comes here
as a full-fledged saint," said James Trent, associate professor of education.

The rule has undergone many modifications since its first proposal in July.
It was met with controversy from financial aid administrators who do not
want to be considered responsible for policing the process. The aid
restriction was part of the Higher Education Act, which Congress
reauthorized last year.

The new version of the rule states that institutions will not be required
to question students regarding any drug-related matters. Students will have
the responsibility of self-identification, which means the student is
supposed to indicate any convictions of drug-related activity on the
application for financial aid.

Some financial aid administrators say the rule isn't well planned and won't
succeed in making a significant difference in cutting student financial aid.

"In a way the bill is ridiculous, because I do not understand why a student
would self-identify himself, knowing the consequences," said Ronald
Johnson, director of UCLA's financial aid office.

The U.S. Education Department, however, is confident that students applying
for aid will identify themselves because they may be randomly chosen to
undergo a verification process when applying. If caught lying on the
application, students will lose financial aid privileges.

Financial aid administrators are making it clear that determining who
should be disqualified from receiving federal financial assistance will not
be their responsibility.

"The concern of the financial aid office was that we would have to police
this process, but the bill is less intrusive than the original plan,"
Johnson said.

Under the rule, students convicted with a first offense for drug use will
lose financial aid privileges for a year. Those caught a second time will
lose privileges for two years. If the student is again convicted of drug
possession, all financial aid privileges will be lost. The rule also states
that students who are convicted for dealing drugs more than once will
indefinitely lose the right to receive financial aid.

The new regulation has also received criticism for unfairly targeting a
very specific community.

"This is not the way to fight the war on drugs," Johnson said. "These
students are here because they want to do something with their lives."

Conversely, proponents of the rule say students who receive federal
assistance to go to college should not be using it to purchase drugs.

Some economists argue that in a world of scarcity, financial aid is also a
limited resource.

"Resources are scarce and we have to choose who to give this scarce aid
to," said William Allen, UCLA professor of economics .

"The government gives aid to people who will generate and be productive; we
don't want to subsidize people that are slobs," he added. While some
economists support the rule because it will more efficiently appropriate
financial aid, educators have a different perspective.They argue that the
restriction will have a negative effect on the poor and minorities.

"Some minorities tend to come from a lower socio-economic level and have
been forced into lifestyles that they want to escape," Trent said.

"Furthermore, these students want to make something of themselves after
having been in an awful environment. It would be unjust to push them down
when they are ready to be productive members of society," Trent added.