MANY TEENS UNAWARE OF ED ACT

Question 31 on the Free Application for Federal Students Aid, could
be a life changing one -- and no one knows why.

The question asks whether a student has been convicted of the
possession or sale of drugs, because as part of Title IV of the
Higher Education Act, convictions for the sale or possession of drug
make you ineligible to receive educational federal aid. However, few
people seem to be aware of it.

The Daily Universe contacted 91 high school students in Utah County
and asked them what they knew about the Higher Education Act. Two of
the students knew what it was. Of the rest, 82 percent said they knew
nothing about it and the remainder either mistook it for Bush's No
Child Left Behind Act or didn't answer.

The act, though, has the potential to affect some of their
educational decisions. Six of these students said they had
participated in the sale of drugs, and 14 said they had used drugs at
least once.

Most of the high school students The Daily Universe talked to said
they were planning to pay for college themselves or would depend on
their parents, but eight said were counting on federal aid.

One tenth grader from Orem High School said she would go to college
if she could get the federal aid to pay for it.

Nancy Volmer, public information officer for Utah State Courts said,
the wording of the statute would exclude any minor's records.

"It doesn't appear that juvenile court records have any bearing on
this law," Volmer said.

That's because juveniles are not convicted of offenses unless they
are over a certain age and commit a felony offense. They also have
the option of having their record expunged when they turn 18, Volmer
said. The question, however, is what happens later

If a student has been convicted of a drug offense, the period of time
that he or she is ineligible to receive aid varies. One offense
translates to one year of ineligibility, two offenses requires two
years. If the student commits a third offense, the period is indefinite.

When the law originally came down, said Joanna McCormick, director of
financial aid at UVSC, the schools had to deal directly with
determining the aid eligibility, but now students have to go directly
through the Department of Education.

"For a student to get it [the ineligibility period] cleared with the
Department of Education he has to prove they've been through an
approved rehab and they are drug-free," McCormick said.

Part of the rehabilitation process, required to waive the
ineligibility period, is setting educational goals, said John
LaCognata, supervisor of Utah County After-care Program - a program
that works with young men and women who have served jail sentences
and are transitioning back into society.

"The thing we try to stress with the kids is knowledge is power, and
knowledge is money," he said.

They try to piggy-back on what the young adults are already
interested in, LaCognata said, and involve them in vocational
training or more formal classes at UVSC. However, most of these
people need outside financial sources to pay for college.

"If we can't do the college thing right off the get go, we try and
plug them in to other, work-related opportunities to fill the void,"
LaCognata said.

The Higher Education Act states that students are ineligible for aid
if they have been convicted at either the state or federal level.
However, Melody Rydalch, public information officer for the U.S.
Attorney's Office said in order to be a federal offense the amount of
drugs would have to merit a 10-year mandatory prison sentence.

"The people who get involved with us have a lot more to worry about
than their grant money," she said.