COLLEGES GRAPPLE WITH FEDERAL ANTI-DRUG EDICTS

Financial Aid Restriction Not A Problem Here, Says Enrollment

Crime may not pay, but it seems that lying does. If a college student has
been convicted of a drug offense but says otherwise on his or her financial
aid application, he or she may reap the benefits of more than $14,000 in
federal loans for education.

This year, 30,000 students nationwide were denied federal grants, loans,
and work-study under the anti-drug provision of the Higher Education Act
(HEA), a result of a 1998 amendment of the HEA, according to a report
published by the Department of Education. A conviction for the distribution
or use of illegal drugs is currently the only crime that will prevent a
student from receiving federal aid.

Carnegie Mellon administrators say the anti-drug provision has had nearly
no effect on enrollment or financial aid costs at Carnegie Mellon.

Civil liberties groups and opponents of the drug war have criticized the
legislation, calling it hypocritical and counterproductive. College
students convicted of crimes such as rape and murder are still eligible to
receive the more than $14,000 available for each federal aid applicant.
Graham Boyd, the national director of the American Civil Liberties Union
drug policy litigation network, says the law discourages and prevents low
income individuals from receiving aid.

"Those already in danger of being pushed to society's margin will not be
able to get federal aid to improve themselves," says Boyd.

In April, Yale University became the fourth and most prominent college to
openly disagree with the federal law. After three years of student
lobbying, administrators created a policy to reimburse students who lost
federal aid due to a drug conviction for usage (as opposed to
distribution), provided they complete a mandatory rehabilitation program.

However, less than 40 percent of 5,300 undergraduates receive federal aid
at Yale compared to 48.5 percent of Carnegie Mellon's 5,500 undergraduate
students. For the 2002-03 school year, only eight percent of CMU students
who completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) did not
qualify for government financial assistance. A policy contrary to the
anti-drug provision will not cost a lot for Yale, which has a $10.7 billion
endowment.

Vice president of enrollment Bill Elliott thinks that Carnegie Mellon
cannot afford to emulate Yale's policy. To date, no student at Yale and
only one student at CMU have been denied federal aid since the anti-drug
provision was enacted.

While CMU debates a definitive answer to Elliott's fiscal concerns,
director of Enrollment Services Linda Anderson says that in the meantime,
the school will make up the difference in lost aid for students affected by
the legislation.

"We will compensate an equal amount until we've had time to develop a
University policy."

Anderson says the anti-drug provision was not an issue until this year when
a student's funding was placed on hold because he had reported on his FAFSA
a prior drug conviction. Through enrollment services, the student declined
to comment.

A national contractor scans FAFSA forms and applications, checking the
veracity of social security numbers and citizenship status. Applications
are flagged if a student has answered "yes" to question 35 (drug
conviction), or left it blank. Since there is no national criminal
database, a "no" response will send the application through the system cleanly.

Anderson isn't particularly convinced of the provisions effectiveness. "Who
will know [if someone lies]? There is no centralized database."

Under federal law, the University reviews and processes all financial aid
requests from applicants. To calculate a family's expected contribution,
enrollment checks the self-reported data against tax forms. The remaining
cost of tuition is comprised of institutional and federal aid.

But how far must CMU go to determine the accuracy of the information
reported on the form? Anderson says the school can use tax records to
determine the family's contribution, but there is no way to ensure the
accuracy of the rest of the form, namely question 35.

"The federal government has once again given us the task to ask a question
to get information, and we're not required to verify the accuracy of the
self-reported data," says Anderson.

The federal government does require schools to resolve "conflicting
documentation." But Dean of Student Affairs Michael Murphy says that is too
nebulous a phrase. If Campus Police cited a student for smoking marijuana
in his or her dorm room, Enrollment Services would never know.

"That will certainly be part of the discussion. Our position has been that
it is the responsibility of the individual to report that," said Murphy. He
gave no timetable for the creation of a new policy.

Falsifying FAFSA answers is punishable by a $20,000 fine or up to one year
in jail. Murphy says CMU has never contacted federal authorities about an
applicant lying on the FAFSA.

Editor's Note: Andrew Johnson contributed to this story.