YALE TO REIMBURSE AID LOST UNDER HIGHER ED. ACT

Drug Offenders No Longer to Be at Financial Disadvantage

Senior Yale administrators have approved a new policy that will reimburse
students for financial aid for which they would otherwise be ineligible
under the "Drug Free Student Aid" provision of the Higher Education Act,
Director of University Financial Aid Myra Smith said.

The 1998 "Drug Free Student Aid" amendment to the Higher Education Act
denies federal financial aid to students convicted of drug offenses. Under
Yale's new policy, the University will offer such students supplemental aid
in the same proportion of loans and grants that they would have received
from the government.

"I think it's a well reasoned approach," Smith said. "It obviously
emphasizes that rehabilitation is a part of what we're doing, but also
emphasizes that we don't want to interrupt someone's education financially."

Andrew Allison '04 wrote the Yale College Council resolution passed Feb. 27
asking the University to take the steps delineated in the new policy.

"I'm thrilled with the announcement and I think it's a great victory for
student activism," Allison said. "I think the administration deserves
praise for taking such bold and reasoned action."

Kat Banakis '03, a member of Student Legal Action Movement, said she is
glad to see the efforts of SLAM, the New Haven and Yale chapters of the
American Civil Liberties Union, and other campus groups who have rallied
around this issue finally pay off.

"It's very rare in activism that you actually get something back, so this
is incredible," Banakis said. "It's also wonderful that the Yale
administration is being receptive to student resolutions and protests and
willing to work with the finances that they have to do something that
students have been asking for."

Smith said she brought the proposed policy before the financial aid
advisory committee -- which is made up of three undergraduates -- on Monday
to ask for their feedback. None of the three members could be reached for
comment yesterday.

The new policy states that Yale will only offer supplemental aid to
students who have lost eligibility because of possession of illegal drugs,
and not to those who lost federal aid for selling illegal drugs. The policy
also requires students who receive the replacement aid to complete a drug
rehabilitation program at University Health Services or another qualified
health care provider approved by UHS.

Banakis said the campaign to convince Yale to reimburse students for the
aid lost under the Higher Education Act drug provision began about three
years ago under the leadership of Alexandra Cox '01.

"When she was a student here, Alexandra Cox had a lot of press," Banakis
said. "She was quoted in Rolling Stone and on MSNBC. She was one of the
first students to make a step for it, [and] the movement got picked up at
Oberlin and other colleges."

Swarthmore approved a policy in February awarding students the aid lost
under the Higher Education Act.

Smith said it is important to note that the new policy is unlikely to
affect a large number of students because to date no Yale student has ever
lost eligibility for federal aid under the current law.

Currently, every student who applies for aid from Yale must first apply and
be found eligible for federal aid, Smith said. Allison said he was pleased
that the new policy does not simply make students eligible for Yale aid,
but also replaces the aid they will not receive from the federal government.

"I think that it sends a message that the original law is unjust," Allison
said. "It shows that Yale truly believes its students should be able to get
the education they deserve."