Students who filled out federal financial aid forms this year may have been surprised to find a new question asking if they had ever been convicted of a drug-related offense, but apparently no University student had to answer "yes."
The question is the product of a 1998 federal law that came into effect this year denying or restricting federal aid to students with drug convictions. The 2000-2001 school year is the first time the question has been included on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), filled out by millions of students each year.
According to Education Department statistics, 9 million students applied for federal financial aid this year. Of these, only 7,000 were penalized for drug convictions, less than 1 percent.
No University student, however, was affected by the new law, said Sharlene Sajonas, associate director of the University's financial aid department.
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Leonard W. Sandridge, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said he was not surprised that University students did not have problems complying with the new law.
"I hope that this will prove to be an insignificant matter for the University," Sandridge said.
The law sets the scale of its penalties in relation to the severity of the students' records. Students with one conviction can lose up to one year of financial aid eligibility. Those with two convictions may lose two years. Those with three or more may permanently lose opportunity for federal assistance.
Applicants may become eligible for aid if they complete a drug rehabilitation program or if they have their convictions overturned or set aside.
Additionally, applicants do not have to disclose their drug records if they were convicted as minors.
Penalty periods depend on the date of conviction.
Of the 7,000 students affected for 2000-2001, 1,311 were judged ineligible and 5,617 have had their eligibility rescinded for some period.
But these figures may be affected by 275,000 students who have not responded to the drug conviction question.
Financial aid offices across the country were faced with a major dilemma after 790,000 students originally failed to answer the question.
The Education Department solved the problem after questioning many of those who skipped the question and finding that for the most part they were motivated by confusion or forgetfulness, not evasion.
The Education Department sent mailings to those students encouraging them to answer the question.
They warned students with convictions that the department would penalize them for lying on their forms if they did not disclose their records.
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