Higher Education Act Drug Provision Fact Sheet
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The
1998 amendment to the Higher Education Act included a section called
the Drug Free Student Provision. This provision makes students ineligible
for financial aid if they have been convicted of a drug offense. The
provision effectively prevents many students from attending school,
and often forces those affected while in school to leave for lack
of funding.
Education Facts:
- More
than 120,000 applications for federal financial aid have been
denied because
of the Drug Free Student Provision of the Higher Education Act.
This number does not include the number of people who did not
apply because they knew they would be denied.
- Being forced
to leave college will significantly lower the probability
of a student ever finishing school: Of students enrolled
in a 4-year college, 36% of those who left after the first year
did not return. This number increases to 50% for students enrolled
in a 2-year college.
- Keeping students out of college reduces the possibility that
their children will complete college, and helps feed the
cycle of under-education, poverty and economic disadvantage: Only
55% of students who enroll in college will complete their degree
if their parents have not obtained a college degree.
Criminal Justice Facts:
- Educated
individuals are less likely to become repeat offenders: According
to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, there is an inverse
relationship between recidivism rates and education, the
higher level of education received, the lower the recidivism rates.
- Penalizing
a student under the so-called Drug Free Student Provision is
double or triple jeopardy: Students are already subject
to the normal criminal justice penalties imposed by our courts,
and sometimes additional sanctions from their schools.
- The provision
has a racially discriminatory impact: In federal
courts, 43% of those convicted of a drug offense are Hispanic,
29% are Black, the remaining minority is White. In state courts,
53% of those convicted of a drug offense are Black. Although Whites
make up 69% of the population, minorities comprise the largest
percentages of individuals ineligible for financial aid.
Public Support:
- Students
across the country want the Drug Free Student Provision repealed:
More than 100 student governments at major colleges and
universities have passed resolutions calling for the repeal of
the provision.
- Major colleges
have stood up against the provision, refusing the let their students
be affected: four colleges, including Yale, have implemented
scholarship programs to replace aid taken away by this
law.
- Major education
and civil rights organizations nationwide are joining the fight
to have the provision repealed: Over 30 national organizations
are officially involved and have contacted Congress about the
issue, including ACLU, NAACP, American Federation of Teachers,
and the National
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
- Commitment
to repeal the provision is growing among Members of the House
of Representatives: To date, 64 co-sponsors have
signed onto HR 685, Rep. Frank’s bill that singularly and
unconditionally calls for the repeal of the Drug Free Student
Provision.
Religious
Support:
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The
following religious bodies have come out in favor of repealing
this provision: National Council of Churches, United
Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Presbyterian
Church, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Association,
Progressive Jewish Alliance, Religious Society of Friends (Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting), Commission on Social Action of Reform
Judaism, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Church of
the Brethren Witness, Church Women United, Association of Jesuit
Colleges and Universities, and the Friends
Committee on National Legislation. |
Interfaith
Drug Policy
Initiative, P.O. Box 6299, Washington,
D.C. 20015
Phone: 301-270-4473 Fax: 301-270-4483 |
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