STATE RANKS 7TH IN COLLEGE AID DENIALS OVER DRUGS

State Ranks 7th In College Aid Denials Over Drugs

Connecticut ranks in the Top 10 when it comes to the percentage of
students denied federal assistance for college because of a drug conviction.

Since 2000, one in every 400 students nationally was rejected for aid
after admitting to such convictions, according to an analysis of U.S.
Department of Education figures by a group advocating for change.

Advertisement In Connecticut, this affected 2,242 students, or 0.28
percent of the 804,589 applications submitted in the past six years,
which puts the state at No. 7 in the country.

Indiana, with one in every 200 applicants turned down for financial
assistance, was No. 1. The amendment became part of the Higher
Education Act at the behest of U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy had sought the information under
the Freedom of Information Act. Originally the federal agency wanted
to charge the group $4,100 for the data, but relented last week and
released the statistics.

Tom Angell, campaign director for SSDP, said he hopes more members of
the U.S. Congress will get involved in revising the regulation now
that they know about 190,000 students were disqualified.

"We want members of Congress to know exactly how many of their own
constituents are being hurt by this law," Angell said.

U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., is the ranking Democrat on
the Senate Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood Development.
His office did not respond with a comment Monday.

Since the 2000-01 school year, a question on financial aid
applications asked students if they had been convicted of a drug
crime. An affirmative answer could then get them bounced from the aid pool.

The nearly 190,000 students affected are those who admitted such
convictions, but not necessarily all those who were convicted.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Students for Sensible Drug
Policy recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of
Education charging the regulation violates the double jeopardy and
due process clauses of the Fifth Amendment.

It also disproportionally affects low-income students, who may not be
able to continue in college without federal assistance, and punishes
no other crime in a similar way, according to Students for Sensible
Drug Policy.

A recent change in the law, effective in the next school year, will
deny aid only to students convicted while in college. Prior to this,
previous convictions were also counted.

Christopher Maclean, associate director for financial aid at the
University of New Haven, said he has not seen many students answer
"yes" to the self-reporting drug question.

"They are not cross-checked, there is no data base," Maclean said.

"I have been here for six years and I could probably count them on
one hand," Maclean said of UNH students negatively hurt by the regulation.