Karina Gonzalez
A report recently released by the U.S. Department of Education shows that California ranks second-highest in students rejected from financial aid because of drug convictions.
Data from the report, which was made available through the non-profit group Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (S.S.D.P.), shows that since the Higher Education Act was enacted in 2000, a total of 31,830 Californians have been denied financial aid for at least some length of time.
This makes the state second only to Indiana in the number of students affected.
The law ties together a question from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that asks about drug convictions and a follow-up questionnaire that is sent to the students who positively answer the question about prior drug convictions.
While the law in its original form affected all students who had drug convictions on their record, in February 2006 it was modified to only apply to students who were convicted while attending college.
After completing out the secondary questionnaire, the student’s eligibility is referred to a campus administrator, who handles each case individually.
The procedures vary from campus to campus, according to Marco De La Garza, Pierce College dean of student services.
“In the time that I’ve been at Pierce, about four years, we have had zero students affected,” said De La Garza. “Before that, when I was at [California State University, Northridge] CSUN, I dealt with two cases.”
According to the law, students convicted of possessing drugs are ineligible for federal aid for one year for their first offense, two years for their second offense and indefinitely for their third offense.
Students convicted of the sale of a controlled substance are ineligible for aid for two years for the first offense and indefinitely for their second offense.
The law also ties to the offense a mandatory drug addiction treatment, which, according to a class action complaint filed in North Dakota by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and S.S.D.P. on behalf of several named students affected by the law, are extremely difficult to enroll in.
They also allege that many of the approved treatment facilities will not enroll students who have used or possessed drugs, but are not technically addicted.
“It is very defined, the time frames,” said De La Garza, noting that in one earlier case he dealt with the student was ineligible for the first six weeks of the semester, but was then reinstated as eligible.
The law makes all controlled substance violations subject to the regulations and does not distinguish between marijuana or heroin possession.
For more information, see the Web sites www.ssdp.org, www.aclu.org or www.ed.gov.