Number: RS21824
Title: Student Eligibility: Drug Convictions and Federal Financial Aid
Authors: Charmaine Jackson and Laura Monagle, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: The Higher Education Amendments (HEA) of 1998 added a provision to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, to suspend eligibility for federal student assistance (grants, loans, or work assistance under Title IV of the HEA) for any student who is convicted of a state or federal offense for the sale or possession of a controlled substance. This provision was amended by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) to apply only to students who were convicted for the sale or possession of a controlled substance that occurred while the student was enrolled in postsecondary education and receiving Title IV student aid. DRA did not change the criteria pertaining to the period of ineligibility due to a conviction for the sale or possession of a controlled substance. It remains that the period of ineligibility is determined by the recency of the conviction, the number of prior convictions, and whether the conviction was for selling or possessing a controlled substance. A student is considered indefinitely ineligible after the third conviction for possession and after the second conviction for selling a controlled substance. Participation in an eligible rehabilitation program enables a student to reestablish eligibility. This report includes a description of the drug conviction provision and a brief discussion of selected reauthorization issues.
Pages: 6
Date: October 10, 2007