DRUG-RELATED DENIAL?

Congress To Re-Examine Higher Education Act; Student Hopes For Drug
Provision Repeal

Russell Selkirk was doing the wrong thing at the wrong place at the wrong time.

During winter break after his first quarter as an Ohio State student,
Selkirk was sitting in a vehicle outside a a bar with a friend smoking
marijuana. He was confronted by two undercover police officers, handcuffed
and put in the back of a cruiser.

Several weeks later, he pleaded no contest to charges of drug abuse and
drug paraphernalia; class four misdemeanors - the lowest level misdemeanor
a person would need to make a court appearance for.

"I was sentenced to 20 hours of community service. I had a six month
suspension on my license in place. I had to pay $250 in court fees," he
said. "Additionally, I was on probation for a year."

Naturally, when Selkirk filled out his Free Application for Federal Student
Aid in January of the 2001-2002 school year, he answered "yes" to question
35, asking if he had ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal
drugs.

What happened next was expected. Four months after his initial application,
Selkirk was denied federal aid in accordance with the 1998 revision of the
Higher Education Act, which includes a provision denying or delaying
federal aid to students revealing a drug conviction on their FAFSA.

However, unlike some students, Selkirk's parents have been able to pay for
his education despite being denied federal financial aid.

"In my situation, it was putting the penalty on the head of my parents,
which is even more ridiculous because they are being punished for something
I did," he said.

The HEA, signed into law in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson, was
created to offer college education opportunities to students, establishing
aid programs like Pell grants, Perkins loans and work-study programs.

Re-authorization of the HEA by Congress is right around the corner with
hopeful plans to come to a vote by July or September. Selkirk is one of
many OSU students pushing for the repeal of the drug provision.

Ben Gaines, legislative director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy
headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the grassroots organization is
pushing for repeal.

One of the most alarming results of the provision, Gaines said, is its
associated discriminatory impact.

"Because the people affected by the war on drugs are overwhelmingly
minorities, minorities are over-represented among the people convicted of
drug offenses - widely over-represented," he said.

Gaines said according to a 1999 study, African-Americans make up 42 percent
of those convicted of felony drug offenses in state court and 13 percent of
the population of America, Gaines said. There are similar representations
among other minorities.

Tally Hart, student financial aid director at OSU, said she supports the
repeal of the provision not only for its discriminatory impact but also for
its effect on low-income households.

"Fundamentally, I and members of our profession oppose any law that places
a different set of requirements on the student who is needy than on the
student who is not needy," she said. "I will work to try to change anything
that differentiates the standard and makes it harder for low-income
students than for students who can afford to pay."

Hart said one of the arguments students against the provision cite is the
irony that people can qualify for federal money while in prison.

"You can, in fact, be incarcerated for what I think anyone would say is a
more heinous crime - and I'm not saying anything about the drug conviction
piece - but murder, more serious crimes, and get federal aid," she said.

Hart said in a typical year OSU has about 75 students who apply that do not
complete the FAFSA process, choosing not to answer question 35 or choosing
not to attend the university. Of students who apply and attend OSU, she
knows of a few who have been convicted and denied federal aid.

Nearly 100,000 students nationwide have been denied need-based federal
financial aid since the provision's inception in 1998, not including the
students who refuse to answer Question 35 on their FAFSA.

At OSU, there are financial aid alternatives. Hart said the university has
a large profile of university loans and emergency funds, as well as job
placement resources that students denied federal aid can use.

One of the most important players in this battle especially to those in
Columbus is Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio. Not only does Tiberi represent part of
Franklin County, but he is a member of the House Education and Workforce
Committee where the provision will be confronted.

Erica Salkow, Tiberi's legislative assistant, said the congressman does not
support the repeal of the provision, but he does support a clarification.

The provision, she said, was misinterpreted and expanded to include
students who had been convicted of a drug offense before attending college.
The original intent was to only punish those students convicted of a
drug-related offense while receiving federal aid during their college tenure.

"We believe that students should be held accountable. Basically, those who
are using drugs or convicted of a drug offense while receiving financial
assistance are polluting the learning environment," she said. "Contrary to
that, you shouldn't continue to punish a child who made a mistake, and who
is attempting to improve their life."

Salkow said Tiberi is trying to work the clarification into the HEA, but
the Education and Workforce Committee is estimating that it will cost $90
million nationwide, since the pool of applicants eligible for aid will
dramatically increase. Trying to come up with that amount of money is
difficult.

"Do you take money from another higher education piece? Do you provide $90
million to children who have been convicted of drug offenses? It's a
difficult decision and this money has to come from somewhere," Salkow said.

She added if the clarification is not worked into the HEA, Rep. Gregory
Meeks, D-N.Y., has offered a bill - Responsible Students Financial
Assistance Assurance Act of 2003 - which serves as clarification.

Dick Stoddard, director of federal relations at OSU, said the university is
waiting for Congress to focus on this re-authorization, and the drug
provision is only one of many issues OSU will focus on. Other issues
include the size of Pell grants, the Direct Loan Program and tuition loan
limits.

"Congress will get started on this, hopefully, in the next few months, and
that focuses our attention, and we will begin to see what they plan to do,"
he said.