Drug Law Denies Aid to Thousands

[flowomo]

Drug Law Denies Aid to Thousands

About 20,000 students each year are denied Pell Grants and about 30,000 to 40,000 lose out on student loans because of a federal law that denies financial aid to college students who’ve been convicted of drug crimes, according to a federal study released Tuesday.

The report issued by the Government Accountability Office examined a raft of federal laws that deny various benefits — including food stamps and some federal housing — to citizens who have had drug convictions. In 1998, Congress amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 to restrict eligibility for federal financial aid to students who have been convicted of certain drug charges under federal or state laws.

Supporters of the law argued that the limited pool of federal student aid should not go to drug users. Critics have complained that the law punishes students overly harshly for mistakes they may have made years earlier....

http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/09/28/drug