STUDENT AID CLOSED OFF TO DRUG OFFENDERS

WASHINGTON -- Students convicted of drug offenses -- especially for the sale
of drugs -- will lose eligibility for federal college tuition aid programs,
including Pell Grants and student loans, under new Education Department
regulations.

Penalties under the rules that take effect July 1 will range from a yearlong
suspension to permanent denial of financial aid, according to the
regulations -- released Friday -- that are based on a law passed last year.
Students must report their pasts on federal financial aid forms.

"We are very concerned about students being truthful about all aspects of
the financial aid application," said D. Jean Veta, the Education
Department's deputy general counsel. "There is no database (of drug
convictions) that we can check. On the other hand, if we find out a student
has lied, we not only require repayment of any aid received, but the student
would be at risk for prosecution for lying to the federal government."

The rule will not apply to juvenile records or proceedings.

A recent survey indicated that drug use among young adults aged 18 to 25 has
risen in the last five years, with 16.1 percent, or 4.5 million, saying they
were current users of an illegal drug, meaning they had used such a drug in
the month before they were surveyed. Veta had no estimate for how many
students the regulations could affect.

The rules are based on provisions in a higher education law -- passed amid
partisan debate -- intended to reduce waste in the federal student loan system.

Repercussions will be worse for drug sellers than for those who merely
possessed them. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. -- who unsuccessfully sought to
limit the legislation -- said such provisions could unfairly affect some
young people who had sold drugs because they had or felt they had few options.

"Obviously if someone is a drug dealer or a serious user, that is a reason
to say no," Frank said Monday. "This kind of blanket ban is a mistake."

Students say the rules set a bad precedent of what information can be sought
and used against them.

"It's kind of backward to deal with a drug policy by denying people an
education," said Jamie Pueschel, a 1998 college graduate who is now
legislative director of the Washington-based United States Student Association.

Under the rules, a first possession conviction will block aid for a year,
while a sales conviction will bar aid for two years. Students convicted of
possessing drugs for a second time will lose aid for two years; a third
time, forever. A student convicted twice of selling drugs will lose aid forever.

Some student offenders will be able to keep or regain eligibility by
completing drug rehabilitation or receiving reversed or set-aside convictions.

Colleges won't have to police their students. Instead, students will be
asked to report their own criminal records on aid forms subject to review by
federal officials. Students must complete forms in each year of eligibility
with other self-reported information such as income and academic status,
Veta said.

Convictions occurring after students apply for aid but before July 1 may
affect their eligibility. For example, a first drug-possession conviction
Feb. 1 would make a student ineligible for aid from July 1 until Feb. 1,
2001. At the same time, a student about to lose aid could finish a
drug-rehabilitation program before July 1.

"We certainly hope that any student otherwise affected by this provision
will enter an appropriate rehabilitation program," Veta said. "We continue
to believe that getting an education may be the best way to get people off
drugs."