Pubdate: Sun, 27 Mar 2005
Source: Plain Dealer, The (OH)
Copyright: 2005 The Plain Dealer
Contact:  http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/342
Note: priority given to local letter writers
Author: Joe Guillen
Cited: Students for Sensible Drug Policy http://www.DAREgeneration.com
Cited: Coalition for Higher Education Reform http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)

PLENTY OF LOOPHOLES LET DRUG OFFENDERS QUALIFY FOR COLLEGE AID

Washington- A week ago, Chris Burnside was a University of Toledo senior 
cut off from federal financial aid because of a 2002 drug conviction - or 
so he thought.

His family made sacrifices, including postponing his father's retirement, 
so he could go to school.

It turns out that some of the sacrifices may not have been necessary. To 
Burnside's shock - and possibly to the surprise of thousands of others - 
the law that penalizes drug offenders by denying them college aid has 
plenty of loopholes, and purposely so. In fact, someone can get busted 
tomorrow and still get loans or grants for next fall.

"I had no idea, so I'm pretty excited," Burnside, 24, formerly of Elyria, 
said after learning from a Plain Dealer reporter that the law was not as 
onerous as he thought.

His misconception is shared by young people, and their parents, across the 
country. Many are too poor to afford college without financial aid and are 
not enrolling as a result, according to several members of Congress.

It's practically gospel in some circles: If you have a drug conviction, you 
can forget about getting financial aid.

The misconception is so widespread that colleges such as Ohio State 
University say potential applicants with past drug busts aren't bothering 
to apply.

Drug offenders, however, are not automatically denied aid, according to the 
U.S. Department of Education and several financial-aid directors.

Under the law in effect since 2000, first-time drug-possession offenders 
are ineligible for federal financial aid for one year after their 
conviction, or two years if their first offense is for selling drugs. 
People with multiple offenses are subject to harsher penalties.

But even these penalties can be sidestepped by completing an acceptable 
drug rehabilitation program. The program must include at least two random 
drug tests and be financed or recognized by institutions the U.S. 
Department of Education approves of.

"I think the feds have done a nice job of making students able to regain 
their eligibility," said Rachel Schmidt, Cleveland State University's 
financial-aid director.

There's only one problem: many people don't follow through with the 
financial aid process long enough to realize they can regain eligibility. 
Many would-be applicants see the question about drug convictions on the 
Free Application for Federal Student Aid and stop right there.

Applicants who answer "yes" or don't answer the drug question aren't 
automatically disqualified. Instead, the Education Department sends them a 
worksheet with the guidelines for regaining eligibility. If they can show 
they have completed rehab or the time limit on the conviction has expired, 
they can be eligible for aid.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a group with chapters on college 
campuses, estimates that more than 160,000 students have either been denied 
aid or stopped applying because of the drug-conviction question. But exact 
figures are not known because it is impossible for universities to say how 
many applicants stop cold without filling out and returning the worksheet.

"Because the question exists, it's a huge deterrent," said Chris Mulligan, 
campaign director for the Coalition for Higher Education Reform, which 
offers a scholarship for students denied aid.

Numerous civil-rights and education organizations, including the NAACP and 
a national association of financial-aid officials, want the question about 
drug convictions removed from aid applications. Those groups are counting 
on Congress for such a change. So far, support for such measures has been 
one-sided.

Rep. Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, reintroduced a bill on March 
9, with no Republican support, that would eliminate drug questions from 
federal financial aid applications. Frank introduced similar legislation 
last year, but without Republican support, the bill failed.

The Republican chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, 
Rep. John Boehner of West Chester, Ohio, has his own idea. He wants to 
clarify the drug provision so it would affect only students convicted while 
already receiving aid. Even then, Boehner would offer the same tools to 
regain eligibility.

Lawmakers are trying to walk a line between sending anti-drug messages and 
giving convicts a second chance.

"Education is the single-most-important tool we have to lift families from 
poverty and strengthen our nation," said Doug Gordon, a spokesman for Rep. 
Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Cleveland, who is a member of the Education 
Committee and wants change. "It must not also be used to punish those who 
need it most."

When Burnside was trying to reassemble his life after his drug-trafficking 
conviction in Elyria, he said, higher education "enlightened" him.

He earned his associate degree from Lorain County Community College in 2003 
before enrolling at the University of Toledo, where he is set to graduate 
with a degree in communications this year.

In the meantime, Burnside is busy organizing a University of Toledo chapter 
of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which opposes drug provisions on 
federal financial aid applications.

"Just because I'm lucky enough to go to college, it doesn't give me the 
right to forget about this," he said. "From what I see, the only true 
rehabilitation is education." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake