Slate: FOIA re: drug charges vs. college education (SSDP)

[DrBloodmoney]

Just a little update on the continuing disenfranchisement of the poor/middle class whose parents can't pay out-of-pocket for them to go to college.

No surprise here...

In 1998, Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., an advocate of stringent drug laws, slipped into a House bill an amendment denying federal financial aid for college to anyone who had been convicted of either selling or possessing drugs. No congressional committee voted on the amendment. But it passed as part of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, first enacted in 1965 to create federal financial aid for college students.

-snip-

If this law betters the lives of young people—Souder calls it a way to reduce youth drug use by reducing demand—then no state has done better than Souder's own Indiana. As of August 2005, nearly 9,000 Indianan students—one in 200—have been denied aid since the law passed. That's the highest proportion of students affected in any state by a wide margin. (Click here to see where your state ranks.) A week ago, when the Department of Education released preliminary data, I started calling Martin Green, Souder's spokesman, for a comment on Indiana's stellar showing. He has not returned my calls.

-snip-

So far, about 190,000 students across the country (and abroad) have told the truth and been denied financial aid. It's impossible to know how many lied and headed off to college, federal aid in hand. Nearly 300,000 student-aid applicants, however, simply ignored the question in 2000-2001, the first school year in which it was asked. After internal debate, the Clinton administration decided to give all these students a pass. (A fitting verdict, perhaps, given Clinton's own equivocal response to questions about drug use.)

http://www.slate.com/id/2139803/

edited for link

[jbnow]

1. This was such a bad move

(Of course none of us ever knew anyone who got busted for having pot in school. Who ever heard of a college age person using pot!)

Denying the Pell grants to those who have been busted with it does the opposite to what we'd like to see their futures become. And this ban doesn't apply to those who get caught getting drunk, being a minor in possession or drunk driving. Good Lord, what do we think causes more problems on campus?

The majority of the offenses that bans federal aid are marijuana related. It would be understandable if used for people who had meth labs on campus or were crack dealers perhaps but overall this policy is insane. I didn't know it started back in 1998 though, nor did I know it was one of those amendments slipped in. But it is a horrible policy.

[Trillo]

2. Greedy little minds, aren't they...

...the Department of Education.