When a college student is convicted of buying or selling drugs, financial aid status is often the last thing on his or her mind.

But a student’s drug conviction leads to more than jail time or community service. If a federal law currently under fire in Congress passes, it also means the student loses his or her federal financial aid.

Starting last year, students convicted of possession of a controlled substance had their financial aid suspended for a year, said Dianne Ensign, financial aid advisor. A second offense, she said, leads to a two-year suspension; a third offense means an indefinite suspension of a student’s financial aid. Students convicted of selling drugs face a two-year suspension, with an indefinite suspension for a repeat offense.

The only way for a student to restore his or her financial aid before the suspension ends is to complete a drug rehabilitation program, Ensign said.

Ensign also said the policy doesn’t just apply to students convicted while receiving financial aid, but also students with any drug conviction on their adult criminal records.

The federal government doesn’t enforce this regulation by watching the police blotter, she said; instead, it is enforced through a question on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

When students fill out their FAFSA form, Ensign said, they are asked whether they have any prior drug convictions. Those who mark “yes” are investigated by the Department of Education.

“The federal government is counting on students being truthful on their FAFSA,” she said. “We don’t watch in the paper and report people.”

Ensign said that this is a federal policy, not the policy of Eastern.

“I don’t think a school has a right to (deny students financial aid because of drug convictions),” she said.

Ensign said she was unaware of any Eastern student having financial aid suspended because of a drug conviction.

`It never should have been enforced that way’

The process of denying students financial aid based on drug convictions began in 1998 when Rep. Mark Souder, R-Indiana, introduced an amendment to the Higher Education Act that suspended federal student aid to students who are convicted of drug charges, said Seth Becker, Souder’s press secretary.

“(Souder) thought, and still thinks, that students who receive taxpayer dollars have a certain responsibility not to break the law,” Becker said.

However, he said the amendment only applied to students convicted of drug charges while they are receiving aid.

But the Clinton administration, charged with writing the actual text of the regulations, expanded the idea to apply to students convicted on drug charges even before they applied for the aid, Becker said.

Suspending aid to students with prior drug convictions “was not how (Souder’s amendment) was written,” Becker said. “It never should have been enforced that way.

“It’s ridiculous to think that someone who wants to go to school when they are 32, when they were convicted when they were 18, shouldn’t get aid.”

Becker said there was not much controversy over the issue during the Clinton administration, as the regulation was only lightly enforced.

“Before, students could leave the question blank, and nothing would happen,” he said. “(The Clinton administration) made it clear that they were not going to enforce it too closely.”

When the Bush administration came to power, however, Becker said, it found thousands of pages of regulations that were not being enforced, and began enforcing them.

Changing the law

“The Bush administration is much more receptive” than the Clinton administration to changing the regulation so it only applies to students convicted of a drug charge while they are receiving federal aid, Becker said.

“We’ve had a couple of meetings about it,” he said. “I am quite confident that this is on its way to a resolution.”

In addition, a resolution has been referred to a House subcommittee that would strike the entire section of the Higher Education Act dealing with financial aid suspensions for students convicted on drug charges.

The Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness has not yet met to discuss the resolution, H.R. 786, said Heather Valentine, a staffer for the subcommittee.

“They’re just researching right now,” Valentine said.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), a co-sponsor of the current resolution, introduced a similar resolution in 1999, but it never reached the House floor.

However, Becker said he thinks the Bush administration will change the regulation on its own before Congress gets involved.

“Bush can correct this, and I think it will happen,” he said.

Eastern students unaware of law

Many Eastern students said they had no idea that a drug conviction could cause them to lose their financial aid; however, once they were told what the regulation was, they were generally supportive of the idea.

“That’s crazy; that’s something I never heard of,” said Nick Skipitaris, a senior speech communication major and Student Senate member. “But (if I lost my financial aid because of a drug conviction) I would deserve it. I shouldn’t be doing things like that.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Eileen Boucher, a sophomore English major. “But you’re taking the government’s money. Why are you taking the government’s money if you’re not going to abide by their rules?”

Wale Dada, a freshman business major, said that allowing students to regain their financial aid after taking a drug rehabilitation class was a good idea.

“Everyone should get a second chance,” Dada said.

Heather Anthony, a sophomore physics major, said she supports the idea. “They might use the money to buy drugs, and that’s not fair to other students,” she said.

Max Voelker, a sophomore biology and philosophy major, said, “If it’s the government’s money, it’s the government’s choice.”

Not all students agreed, however.

“People make mistakes,” said Erin Lane, a sophomore early childhood major. “Just because they made that mistake doesn’t mean they don’t want to change their life. Sometimes they can’t afford (college).”

Tim Going, a senior mathematics major, said that while he supports suspending financial aid for students recently convicted of drug charges, people shouldn’t be penalized as adults for what they did in their youth.

“If you don’t punish a person immediately, what good will it do?” Going asked.