Applying for financial aid through FAFSA has been tedious and stressful Southwestern College students. It is a lengthy, complex process and even the most researched and affluent applicants can still make mistakes on their paperwork or misunderstand information.
One area many students do not understand ways one can lose their FAFSA funding is the use of illegal drugs. Receiving a federal or state drug conviction will cause a student to become ineligible for FAFSA.
“To suddenly lose that funding for something you didn’t know you could lose it for is a big deal,” said Amanda Eldridge, 24, mathematics major. “There is a lot of information that isn’t easily available, and it’s really hard to go find all these things and you have to know what you are looking for.”
Section 484(r) of the Higher Education Act lays out the rules and guidelines surrounding drug convictions and their effect on financial aid. In order to lose your financial aid, convictions must occur during a period of time in which the student was receiving funding through financial aid. Even though the FAFSA application includes questions regarding prior drug convictions, many people are not aware that their FAFSA is at risk and are therefore at risk of halting their education.
While it may take a year to two years, depending on the number of offenses incurred, students are able to regain FAFSA money and shorten their period of ineligibility. These include a drug rehab program, passing two unscheduled drug tests or having the conviction reversed or found to be invalid. Students may choose to wait out the period of ineligibility, which is either two years depending on whether it is a first or second offense and whether it was possession or possession selling. Third offenses will result in an indefinite suspension of funds.
Patti Larkin, director of financial aid evaluations and veteran’s services said. Rules and regulations are passed down from the Department of Education and are to be enforced according to their code.
“We are not really involved on the decision making side, that comes down to our senators and representatives,” she said.
“What we do here is enforce the law, It is important to know that federal financial aid is federal money, they tell us what we have to check, and how we have to check it, and they give us a lot of guidelines. So our job is to follow that,” Explains Larkin.
Manuel Meraz, a 25 year-old computer science major fervently disagrees with the policy saying, “Medical marijuana or any kind of marijuana or drug like that, I feel like that should have nothing to do with your FAFSA and education,” he said.
“What if they are a 4.0 student, they are very active in clubs, and they are actually helping the community but they got caught smoking some powder at home? Now they can’t get their financial aid. That does not really show any kind of critical thinking skills on their part.”
Eldridge says she supports the rule.
“I think it is a fair policy, but I think it would be more fair if they were letting people know. Especially with marijuana being more legalized now, it is kind of at a point where it is sort of legal and it is sort of not and it’s this game of who is going to accept this level of legality and who is going to say ‘that’s not good enough,’” she said.