BILL DARES TO TAKE DRUGS OFF FAFSA

The 2003-04 Free Application for Federal Student Aid priority deadline is
today. If a bill passes through Congress, honest students convicted of a
drug-related offense who answered FAFSA question 35 accordingly may still
be able to maintain their financial aid next year.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 provides government assistance to college
students through financial aid. A 1998 amendment stipulates that students
with drug convictions will no longer be eligible to receive financial aid.
Bill HR 685, introduced Feb. 11 to the House by Representative Barney Frank
(D-MA) and co-sponsored by Representative Stephen LaTourette (R-OH), will
revoke the drug amendment if passed.

"HR 685 would get rid of the law that prohibits students with drug
convictions from receiving financial aid from the government," Ben Gaines,
coordinator for the Coalition of HEA Reform (C.H.E.A.R.), said.

The government monitors which students are ineligible to receive financial
aid because of drug convictions with FAFSA question 35, which asks if they
have ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs. If the
student answers yes, question 35 says to complete and submit the
application and they will send the student a worksheet in the mail to
determine if the students' convictions will affect their eligibility.

Ron Andrade, the director of UCSB's Financial Aid Office, said students not
answering question 35 of the FASFA form is the biggest problem the drug
provision has caused.

"Five UCSB students left question 35 blank for the 2002-03 year," Andrade
said. "A FASFA form is considered incomplete with even one question left
blank, and therefore cannot be processed."

Representative Mark Souder (R-Ind.) introduced the 1998 amendment that
prohibits students with drug convictions from receiving government aid.

"He is against the bill which would repeal the drug provision. Enforcement
of the provision has been difficult, but we believe it will remain," Seth
Becker, Souder's spokesman, said. "The Clinton administration wrote the
regulation to encompass all drug convictions, which was not the original
intention of the bill."

Souder's 1998 amendment to the HEA has faced two major criticisms, the
first being that the provision only affects those with drug-related
convictions, but does nothing to students convicted of other offenses,
including violent crimes. Secondly, the amendment only affects students who
answer "yes" to question 35, but does not monitor the approximately 10
million students who answered no, some of whom do have drug convictions but
lied about it on their FAFSA.

"Right now, no one is being denied financial aid on this campus," Andrade said.

This is the third attempt to have the bill passed in Congress. If passed,
it will be in effect for the 2003-04 school year. Gaines said getting the
bill passed would be an "uphill battle" because several members of Congress
are highly opposed to the bill.

Becker said the provision was meant to affect students convicted of drug
use or selling drugs while on financial aid, rather than also including
students who had convictions prior to applying for aid.

"We want to reach back and reshape the bill slightly to meet initial
intentions, not remove it," Becker said.

The most likely outcome for the bill is a compromise.

"We would reduce the number of students affected by the current drug
provision in the act by only counting the drug offenses while a student is
receiving financial aid. This would help out approximately 25,000 students
to get their aid back," Gaines said.

Andrade said he is in favor of any bill that lessens the severity of the
drug provision.

"HR 685 was introduced in 1999 in response to a 1998 amendment to the HEA,
which passed without much debate, and no one realized its implications
until it was too late," Gaines said. "The amendment was a former bill to
reform HEA, but was never passed."