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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Thousands with drug convictions denied student loans
#5516810 - 04/14/06 06:03 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Thousands with drug convictions denied student loans By MICHAEL DOYLE McClatchy Newspapers April 14, 2006 - shns.com
WASHINGTON -- More than 31,000 California college students forfeited their shot at federal financial aid because of a past drug conviction, newly released records show.
Last year alone, 2,219 Californian students were denied federal financial aid because they admitted to a prior drug bust. That was more than any other state, according to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
Although the restrictions will now be loosening, activists insist the entire financial aid policy needs rethinking.
"It's a victory that some students will be able to get back their aid," Tom Angell, campaigns director for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said Friday, "but there are still some fundamental problems."
Marisa Garcia testifies to that.
The sociology major at California State University at Fullerton pleaded guilty to possession of a pipe with marijuana residue, found in her car the day before her 19th birthday. Garcia, now 25, subsequently acknowledged her conviction on her financial aid application.
That admission rendered Garcia ineligible for federal student assistance, under a 1998 law now under court challenge.
"Without financial aid, it was nearly impossible to continue my education," Garcia wrote on a Web site devoted to opposing the federal law. "Luckily my mom was refinancing our house at the time, so she had some extra money to help me pay for tuition. She even offered to let me charge my school books on her credit card so I could afford to stay in school."
Angell cited Garcia on Friday as an example of how the 1998 law will continue to hurt students despite congressional efforts earlier this year to soften the blow. Garcia herself could not be reached to comment, although she has formed a Cal State Fullerton chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. San Diego State likewise has a chapter.
So far, no Central Valley college or university is among the roughly four dozen nationwide to have its own chapter. And with only about one out of every 500 student loan applicants affected so far, the federal restrictions may seem hidden on a campus even if individuals are sorely squeezed.
Shirley Armbruster, spokeswoman for California State University at Fresno, said Friday that, "anecdotally," the school's financial aid office was unaware of local students being affected by the federal rules.
"Last year, we had a few students who indicated they might not be eligible (because of the drug provisions,)" noted Diana Ralls, financial aid director at the University of California at Merced, "but we actually did not have any of those students matriculate."
This year, Ralls said she knows of two students admitted to U.C. Merced who have indicated they had prior drug convictions. So far, these students have not yet provided the detailed forms that will clarify whether they remain eligible for aid.
There's much money at stake. The federal government in fiscal 2004 delivered $69 billion through various loan, grant and work-study programs.
Students are potentially denied aid under a 1998 provision authored by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind. Passed with scant discussion, the now-controversial provision denied federal loans to any student who had been convicted of selling or possessing drugs.
"We have a major crisis in this country," Souder said on the House floor at the time, "and the question is, are we serious about it or not."
Under the original provision, students lost out on federal aid for one year if they have one conviction for drug possession. They lost out for two years if they have one conviction for drug selling. Drug convictions are the only kind that hurt a student. A student could be convicted, for instance, of vehicular manslaughter while driving intoxicated and not lose his or her student loan.
Nationwide, 189,065 students have been denied aid for drug violations since 2000. The state-by-state numbers were hidden away until Angell's organization filed a FOIA request, and then sued the Education Department after officials demanded $4,000 in fees. The department subsequently relented.
A separate lawsuit, filed as a class action late last month, challenges the underlying and recently revised federal policy. Under the new law, the student aid prohibition will apply to new drug convictions only and not those that preceded a student entering college.
The revised law renders students ineligible for one year following their first conviction for drug possession. Students convicted of selling drugs would lose eligibility for two years. Multiple convictions can lead to a permanent ban.
College loan officers don't investigate applicants' criminal records. Instead, students are supposed to check a box on the infamously complicated financial aid forms.
"These questions add complexity to the form and can deter some students from applying for financial aid," the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, established by Congress, noted earlier this year.
Already, California and 14 other states ignore drug records in distributing state financial aid.
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moog
Stranger

Registered: 02/15/05
Posts: 1,296
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Re: Thousands with drug convictions denied student loans [Re: veggie]
#5518394 - 04/15/06 09:32 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Oh yes, this is genius. Instead of giving these people with marred public records a chance to live a good life with a college education, make their lives even worse! Wow. Stupidity knows no bounds.
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RandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
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Re: Thousands with drug convictions denied student loans [Re: moog]
#5518450 - 04/15/06 10:00 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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People with drug convictions are exactly the type of people who need to get their acts together and turn their lives around. Denying them financial aid and giving it to other people is not the way to do this.
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Microcosmatrix
Spiral staircasetechnician


Registered: 10/20/05
Posts: 11,293
Loc: Ythan's house
Last seen: 17 years, 1 month
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Re: Thousands with drug convictions denied student loans [Re: RandalFlagg]
#5518807 - 04/15/06 11:50 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
College loan officers don't investigate applicants' criminal records. Instead, students are supposed to check a box on the infamously complicated financial aid forms.
HAHA!
hint hint, don't check the box.
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demiu5
humans, lol


Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: Thousands with drug convictions denied student loans [Re: Microcosmatrix]
#5520421 - 04/16/06 08:40 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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see man, it'd be great if it worked that way for state scholarships. They actually check all of our shit since it is a gov't program (FAFSA). So, maybe some people can get it that way, but not all.
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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CUBErt
Connoisseur ofHallucination


Registered: 08/24/05
Posts: 1,067
Loc: Southern CA
Last seen: 14 years, 3 months
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Re: Thousands with drug convictions denied student loans [Re: veggie]
#5525633 - 04/17/06 04:14 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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So a kid #1 could drive around with his friends, vandalize schools and playgrounds and eventually get caught... but if no drugs are involved he can still apply for financial aid and go to college, where he will probably become the stereotypical drunken fratboy who continues this same damaging activity.
Kid #2 is a straight A student whose parents didnt attend college and thus dont make enough to send him there. One night he takes some LSD and sits in a park enjoying the sights and sounds. A patrolling police officer sees him and interrogates him for "looking suspicious." Through the "probably cause" of the kid's eyes looking abnormal and the kid not resisting the intrusion because he feels intimidated, he confesses and gets arrested.
Hypothetical scenario, but im sure something similar exists... Kid #2 will have his future ruined and society can say it was because of drugs, when in reality it was because of drug policy. Kid #1 will continue to be a dick until one day he gets his college degree, grows up, and probably becomes a cop.
-------------------- -CUBErt
 
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