Drug conviction affects aid eligibility
Bill to impede student aid after illegal substance abuse
Jacob McCormick
Issue date: 3/13/06 Section: Campus News
Last Friday, a bill proposed to prevent college students who are convicted of intent to sell illegal drugs from receiving state financial aid in the Wisconsin State Assembly.
AB 1035 passed with a bipartisan majority, Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria, lead author of the bill, said.
"The bill and issue have been present in the past," Hahn said. "I just pushed it through.
There is never enough money for each student that needs it, and if someone has been convicted with the intent to sell or distribute illegal drugs, there's no way they should receive financial aid."
According to a press release from Rep.
Hahn's office, under this bill, a college student who is convicted of possessing drugs with the intent to sell would no longer be eligible for financial aid for two years.
However, the ban would be dropped if that student was convicted when they were not in college or if they complete a drug rehabilitation program.
"There is definitely incentive for those students who deal to stop and get clean," Hahn said. "We try to be tough on drugs, and under this bill, students that are running straight and narrow will benefit."
Director of Financial Aid at UW-Eau Claire Kathy Sahlhoff said the bill mirrors the federal legislation preventing current students with drug convictions from receiving financial aid.
Sahlhoff is also co-chair of the State Issues Committee for the Wisconsin Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (WASFAA), a group that lobbied against passing the bill altogether, she said.
"Eau Claire policy follows federal rules on financial aid for drug convictions," Sahlhoff said. "At first, the FAFSA rules said that if a student had been convicted as an adult before college, that student could not receive federal aid. Now, the question only pertains to students already in college," she said.
Financial aid groups around the country are working steadily to get the question dropped completely from the form, Sahlhoff said.
AB 1035 passed with a bipartisan majority, Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria, lead author of the bill, said.
"The bill and issue have been present in the past," Hahn said. "I just pushed it through.
There is never enough money for each student that needs it, and if someone has been convicted with the intent to sell or distribute illegal drugs, there's no way they should receive financial aid."
According to a press release from Rep.
Hahn's office, under this bill, a college student who is convicted of possessing drugs with the intent to sell would no longer be eligible for financial aid for two years.
However, the ban would be dropped if that student was convicted when they were not in college or if they complete a drug rehabilitation program.
"There is definitely incentive for those students who deal to stop and get clean," Hahn said. "We try to be tough on drugs, and under this bill, students that are running straight and narrow will benefit."
Director of Financial Aid at UW-Eau Claire Kathy Sahlhoff said the bill mirrors the federal legislation preventing current students with drug convictions from receiving financial aid.
Sahlhoff is also co-chair of the State Issues Committee for the Wisconsin Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (WASFAA), a group that lobbied against passing the bill altogether, she said.
"Eau Claire policy follows federal rules on financial aid for drug convictions," Sahlhoff said. "At first, the FAFSA rules said that if a student had been convicted as an adult before college, that student could not receive federal aid. Now, the question only pertains to students already in college," she said.
Financial aid groups around the country are working steadily to get the question dropped completely from the form, Sahlhoff said.