HEA Drug Provision under attack
By Leila Kamgar
Feb. 20, 2003 9:00 p.m.
Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has introduced legislation
that would repeal a law barring convicted drug offenders from
receiving financial aid.
“I don’t condone illegal drug use,” Frank said
in a press release, “but in my opinion it is a mistake to use
the student financial aid system as a blanket method of punishing
people who are convicted of minor drug violations.”
Under the current law, mandated by the Higher Education
Act’s drug provision, convicted students over age 18 are
ineligible for aid for one year from the time of conviction for
their first offense. The penalty escalates with the number of
convictions, but can be reduced if the student completes an
approved drug rehabilitation program.
According to Department of Education figures, more than 29,000
students were prevented from getting financial aid in 2002.
“Several dozen students have come to our office because of
this problem,” said Liz Kemper, director of Student Legal
Services.
The UCLA financial aid office has alternate ways of financing
students affected.
“UCLA has taken the position that if students
demonstrating financial need are barred from federal financial aid
because of a controlled substance conviction, UCLA will work to
provide non-federal funding for them,” said Ronald Johnson,
director of the UCLA Financial Aid Office.
“We do not feel that it is appropriate to tie financial
aid to drug convictions,” Johnson said.
Student Legal Services also offers legal consulting for students
facing drug charges and a drug rehabilitation program, offering
convicted students the potential of regaining financial aid
eligibility earlier than mandated.
Opponents of the HEA Drug Provision claim that it is
discriminatory against the people that need financial aid the
most.
“I think it sends the wrong signal when we make it harder
for lower income students who have been convicted of minor drug
possession crimes,” Frank said.
In addition to Frank, 39 representatives co-sponsored the bill,
including Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), UCLA’s voice in
Congress.
Some supporters of Congressman Frank’s bill argue that the
HEA Drug Provision unproportionately hurts minorities.
“There is clear evidence to suggest that because of racial
profiling and other forms of discrimination in the criminal justice
system, blacks and hispanics are disproportionately targeted,
arrested, and convicted of drug offenses,” said Wade
Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights.
Organizations including the ACLU, NAACP, National Association of
Student Financial Aid Administrators, and over 100 student
governments including UC San Diego and UC Berkeley support
repealing the HEA Drug Provision.
UCLA’s student government has not yet passed a resolution
taking a position on the HEA Drug Provision, but USAC President
David Dahle says that the issue will be put on the agenda for
discussion in the near future.
Members of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, including
representatives from UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley, are planning a
nationwide event April 10 to educate students about the HEA.
Not everyone is in favor of repealing the HEA Drug Provision,
however.
Opponents of Frank’s bill include Congressman Mark Souder
(R-Ind.), who sponsored the HEA Drug Provision in 1998.
According to Souder’s press secretary, Seth Becker, Souder
feels the drug provision is important, and is opposed to a repeal
of it.
“The federal government has every right to set conditions
on aid; an obligation of you receiving financial aid is that you
follow the law,” Becker said.
Ben Gaines of the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform
said, “While the mainstream of the Democratic party is behind
the Rep. Frank’s bill, it’s going to be an uphill
battle to get this passed; it will require Republican
support.”
