DRUG BUSTS COST STUDENTS MONEY

Groups Out To Change Federal Law

In the past five years, almost 1,900 students or prospective students
at Arkansas colleges and universities have been denied federal
student aid because they admitted to a drug conviction, according to
recently released data from the U.S. Department of Education.
Arkansas had the eighthhighest rate -- 0.27 percent -- of
post-secondary students denied aid among all states, the data show.
Nationally, nearly 190,000 students, or about 1 per 400, lost out on
funding because of a provision to the Higher Education Act signed
into law by President Clinton. Most federal student aid is awarded
through Pell Grants, which contribute up to $3,125 per year to an
undergraduate, according to the Education Department. The release of
a state-bystate breakdown in late April has added steam to the effort
of student groups, educators and legislators -- including U.S. Rep.
Vic Snyder, D-Ark. -- to repeal the law. On March 22, Students for a
Sensible Drug Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based group that "educates
on the harm caused by the war on drugs," filed a class-action lawsuit
with the American Civil Liberties Union against the Education
Department, calling for aid to be given to students who were denied
it because of drug convictions. There are three plaintiffs so far,
none from Arkansas. Snyder is co-sponsoring a bill in the U.S. House
of Representatives to repeal the provision. "Here's the problem:
These are people who are being candid about their past," Snyder said
of denied students. "They've been accepted into school.

Isn't that what we want for people who've made mistakes?

To turn over a new leaf?" Since the law went into effect in 2000, the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid has included the question,
"Have you ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal
drugs?" The form twice warns applicants not to leave the question
blank. If students respond "yes," or leave it blank, they are sent a
more extensive questionnaire. Depending on the severity and number of
offenses, students can be ruled ineligible for aid from one year to
indefinitely. The policy's intent is to discourage youths from drug
use, Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., said when he wrote the provision in
1998. Souder's home state has the highest percentage of students
denied aid because of drug convictions, at 1 of every 200. Snyder and
Tom Angell, campaigns director for Students for a Sensible Drug
Policy, which has no chapters in Arkansas, said the policy is unfair
and causes more drug problems than it cures. "It causes more drug
abuse by blocking access to education," Angell said. "People with a
college degree are much less likely to abuse drugs. "It's unfair," he
continued. "Murderers and rapists are eligible.

A student caught with a single marijuana cigarette will be denied."
The basis of the group's lawsuit is that the law violates the Fifth
Amendment, which states a person shall not be punished twice for the
same crime. Valerie Smith, a U.S. Education Department spokesman,
said she was unsure when and how the government would respond to the lawsuit.

She said few students are affected by the law. "Drug convictions do
not necessarily mean students don't have access to student aid,"
Smith said. "The vast majority of students with drug convictions do
maintain [or regain] eligibility." If a student completes an approved
rehabilitation program, he regains eligibility, she said. And, in
most cases, if he was convicted as a juvenile, he would retain
eligibility. "In the big picture, federal student aid has increased
access to education for millions of students nationwide," Smith said.
"Last year, we distributed more than $73 billion dollars... to more
than 10 million students." Smith also said the February passage in
Congress of an amendment to the policy, attached to the deficit
reduction bill, will decrease its scope.

The updated version, which will take effect in July, denies aid only
to students convicted of a drug offense while they are receiving
federal financial aid. But that's not enough, Snyder and Angell said.

"Even when this does go into effect, still tens of thousands of
students are getting busted every year," Angell said. Snyder said of
the changed law: "It really doesn't address the terrible unfairness."
Though Arkansas has a high percent of students affected by the law,
it is one of the better states for students with a drug conviction,
according to a report by the Coalition for Higher Education Act
Reform, which partners with Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.
Seventeen states give aid only to students deemed eligible for
federal aid, so students who are denied federal aid because of drug
convictions would also lose state aid, according to the report.

Arkansas is among the few states that don't tie state scholarships to
federal aid eligibility. "None of our state scholarships, we don't
ask them about their drug history," said Robin Henson, a spokesman
for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. Only one state
scholarship, the Academic Challenge, has a drug provision, she said.
The state's largest scholarship, which is given based on academics
and need, requires recipients to pledge to remain drug-free. But it's
an honor system, Henson said. The department doesn't follow up. At
the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, student aid worker Kattie
Wing said the office receives occasional calls from students with
concerns about their drug histories, trying to find out if they're
eligible for aid. Wing said the number of students missing out on aid
could be greater than the numbers show because some students could
see the drug question on the aid application and not complete the
form. "It's hard to say how many students that actually affects," she
said. "Hopefully Congress will look at it, make it easier for
students to understand." Cheryl Lyons, director of financial aid at
the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, said few students there
answer "yes" to the drug conviction question. The federal government
has no way of checking whether students really have convictions,
Smith and others said. If students complete rehabilitation -- or if
they just claim to -- they regain eligibility. "Whether those answers
are correct or not, we have no way of knowing," Lyons said. "The
federal government has no way of knowing." When students call in who
were denied federal aid for any reason, Lyons, Wing and other
financial aid workers refer them to other sources such as state
scholarships and nonfederal loans.

Despite that and the few calls on the matter, Wing doesn't disregard
the issue. "It is a big thing, especially for students that lose
their eligibility," she said. "I'm certain, if you were denied aid
because of that... it would be a personal issue then. It could cost them."