STATE STUDENTS WITH CONVICTIONS DENIED FED AID

More than 3,300 prospective college students in Tennessee have been
denied federal financial aid since the 2000-01 school year due to
prior drug convictions, according to newly released data from the
U.S. Department of Education.

Nationally, about 200,000 students were denied federal aid during
that time period. The total number of national applications was about
77 million, while Tennessee had about 1.4 million.

Recently, the Department of Education released the data following a
Freedom of Information Act request by the Washington D.C-based
nonprofit group Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). The federal
department had refused to release both the national and
state-by-state count of students denied federal financial aid on
grounds that it would be counter-productive to the anti-drug message.

Two months ago, the U.S. Congress scaled back a federal law that
stripped financial aid from college students with drug convictions.
With the change, students with past drug offenses can now receive
federal or state financial aid as long as the drug convictions did
not happen while the students were enrolled in college and receiving
financial aid.

The Higher Education Act (HEA) aid elimination penalty was originally
enacted in 1988. College students had to declare prior drug
convictions on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
An answer of "yes" to the drug conviction question basically rendered
the student ineligible to receive financial aid, regardless of
whether the conviction was prior to the person's entering college.

Now that the regulations have changed, SSDP is pushing for further
changes including filing a class action lawsuit to claim retroactive
payment of monies to students denied aid.

"We think this policy causes more drug abuse by denying students a
chance to go to college," said Tom Angell, national campaign director
for SSDP. "The state-by-state numbers verify how many students have
been denied help."

Most Tennessee institutions involved with administering student
financial aid agree the state number of 3,342 is fairly high in
comparison to the national count.

Stephen White, director of student aid at Nashville State Community
College, said NSCC has not done any research related to the release
of the numbers. However, he said only about 10-15 students might be
affected with the class action lawsuit.

"It is certainly a large number in relationship to regulations that
stipulate the number of students [in Tennessee] denied federal
financial aid. However, the impact at our college would be minor."

White said it seems SSDP (or any other such group) is making a point
to isolate only drug offenses as a crime subject to punishment.

"Anyone convicted of a crime should be subject to similar treatment," he said.

Darolyn Porter, student financial aid compliance administrator for
the Tennessee Student Assistance Corp. (TSAC), said she would be
surprised to see retroactive changes because typically when federal
regulations change, they date forward.

Porter said it is difficult to anticipate the changes the Tennessee
numbers would have on TSAC because financial aid is given to students
across the board.

"The reality is we don't know if the students affected were low
income or had other restrictions," she said. "Basically, TSAC will
abide by the law and pay for students' [assistance] if they are
eligible for state-funded monies."