Have you "ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs?"
Starting with the 2001-2002 school year, the U.S. Department of Education will no longer permit colleges to provide federal financial aid to students who do not respond to this question on their federal financial aid forms.
Although some activists expect the new provision to have wide-reaching effects, several University officials do not expect the new requirement to impact students a great deal.
Congress first imposed the drug-conviction restriction when it renewed the Higher Education Act in 1998. Under this act, eligibility for federal financial aid can be suspended for one year for a first conviction on a drug possession charge, two years for a second conviction and indefinitely for a third. Students can regain eligibility after they complete a drug-rehabilitation program.
Last year, the Department of Education extended aid to applicants who did not respond to the question because there was confusion over the question wording.
Over the summer, the department rewrote the question for clarity. This year, students have to answer "yes" or "no" to the question of prior drug convictions on their aid applications.
About one-third of the applications are already processed, said Steven Silverman, campus coordinator for the Drug Reform Coordination Network.
The Drug Reform Coordination Network is a non-profit group that works to loosen drug-sentencing rules and other drug policies.
Silverman does not support the new provision because it "is not the proper way to show students the way [to recovery from drug addiction] by cutting their educational access," he said.
However, University financial aid officials are not especially concerned.
We "don't expect this to be a problem," said Sharlene R. Sajonas, associate director of financial aid to students.
Sajonas said she thinks the impact of the provision will be "minimal, if any." She believes the provision will have little impact because the University has not had any problems with the drug question in the past year. Not all drug offenses classify an applicant ineligible for aid, so the rule does not affect a large number of students, she said.
Only federal and state convictions will prohibit an individual from receiving aid. The prohibition also does not include any offenses committed prior to the age of 18, unless the applicant was tried as an adult.
Student opinion remains divided on the issue.
"If someone has committed an offense, there is enough punishment out there for these offences, and being deprived of financial aid [should not be] one of them," second-year College student Simona Kuipers said.
Department of Education officials could not be reached for comment.
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