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No financial aid for drug offenders
11-09-06 l The Appalachian l Lillian Hogan

Smoke pot? If so, your federal financial aid is in jeopardy.

The Higher Education Act Aid Elimination Penalty, signed by former President Bill Clinton and passed into law in 1998, requires students to reveal drug convictions to the government when applying for federal aid.

The drug conviction question was added to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2000-01 school year.

“The question encompasses everything from a single marijuana cigarette up to heroin trafficking,” Tom J. Angell, campaigns director of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy in Washington, D.C., said.

Since the law passed, 5,323 North Carolina college applicants have been denied financial aid because of drug convictions, according to a U.S. Department of Education study. Nearly 200,000 students nationwide have been denied.

The majority of students the law affects are convicted of possession of small amounts of marijuana, Ian Mance, former Appalachian State University American Civil Liberties Union co-president, said.
University Police Chief Gunther E. Doerr said about 90 percent of Appalachian student drug offenses are for marijuana.

In February, Congress approved an HEA revision, which states only students convicted of drug offenses while enrolled in school will lose their aid eligibility.

However, Appalachian financial aid and police representatives as well as the university attorney said they do not enforce the revised HEA elimination penalty.

“No one is contacting the government,” University Attorney Dayton T. Cole said.

Drug convicted students must self-report on the day of their conviction, Financial Aid Associate Director Kay N. Stroud said.

There is no system for tracking convictions, but if financial aid personnel see public information about a student’s conviction, they must report that information to the government, she said.

This year, five Appalachian students reported a drug conviction on the FAFSA and lost aid, Director of Financial Aid Esther Manogin said.

Last year, 23 Appalachian students were arrested for drugs and 166 were referred to the Office of Student Conduct, Doerr said.

As of the end of September, 26 Appalachian students were arrested and 56 were referred, Doerr said.
Of the students arrested, Doerr said about 50 percent are convicted.

There have been no reported drug convictions to the financial aid office after a student has enrolled, Manogin said, but she believes “the government can rely on self-reporting.”

Office of Student Conduct Director Judy M. Haas said the federal government does not see judicial referrals.

A student’s FAFSA is believed to be true unless there is a reason to suspect the student falsified their answers, Assistant University Attorney David Larry said.

Under the Federal False Statement Act, a student putting an untrue answer on the FAFSA faces felony charges and up to five years in prison, Larry said.

“It seems the statute is primarily a political document with substantial consequences [if students choose not to self-report],” he said.