Drug Convictions and Student Loans: Don't Ask, Don't Tell
The Senate version of legislation to renew the Higher Education Act, notable for its increased funding of Pell Grants, also includes a welcome but less noticed provision:
The Senate legislation would also eliminate from the federal financial aid application a controversial question asking whether applicants have been convicted of drug possession while receiving federal student aid. That question has been used to identify and strip financial aid from thousands of students. While the Senate bill would leave the drug possession penalty in the law, dropping the question from the federal financial aid form would make enforcement of the provision very difficult.
Tom Angell, government relations director at Students for Sensible Drug Policy, responds sensibly:
“While it would be more appropriate to simply erase the penalty from the lawbooks altogether, we support the committee’s effort to make sure that students with drug convictions can get aid just like anyone else.”
SSDP makes it easy to contact your senator to support the change by visiting this page.
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