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By Arj Arjunan

Daily Bruin Contributor

The Bush administration’s strict enforcement of the 1998 Higher Education Act could lead to 34,000 students being denied federal financial aid this year, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

A provision of the act denies grants, loans and work assistance to students with drug convictions who fail to undergo drug rehabilitation programs approved by the Department of Education.

Nicolas Valdivia, assistant director of the Financial Aid Office, maintains that UCLA students have not been affected by the provision.

“I’m not aware of students seeking aid that have drug convictions,” he said.

When students fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, they must disclose any prior drug convictions in the questionnaire.

The Bush administration has resolved to notify students that have not answered the question to fill out a more detailed worksheet on the subject, Valdivia said.

The Clinton administration did not seek details from students that left it blank preferring to only withhold aid from students who checked “yes” when asked of prior convictions. During the 2000-01 school year, the government denied 8,100 students assistance because of drug convictions, according to the Education Department.

The author of the provision, Congressman Mark Souder, R-Indiana, said students receiving federal assistance must take responsibility for their actions.

“Student aid is a privilege, not a right,” said Seth Becker, Souder’s press secretary.

Though Becker supports the reasoning behind the provision, he said the Education Department has not interpreted it in the manner in which Souder intended.

“It’s not being enforced according to the author’s intent,” he said. “It was supposed to suspend loans for students convicted while receiving aid or while their applications were pending.”

Instead, both the Clinton and Bush administrations withheld federal assistance to students with drug convictions that occurred after their 18th birthday, according to Betty Allenbrand, supervisor at the Education Department’s Federal Student Aid Information Center. Both administrations have also required that students undergo drug rehabilitation in programs approved by the department before regaining eligibility, Allenbrand said.

Becker said Souder’s office has contacted the department, hoping to clear up confusion over the varying interpretations without new legislation. A legislative solution would be too time-consuming, Becker said.

Meanwhile, Congressman Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, has introduced legislation that would repeal Souder’s provision.

NORML publications director Paul Armentano supports Frank’s legislation and said Souder hasn’t done enough to clarify the provision.

“Souder has told everyone that the language is being misinterpreted, but he is not a co-sponsor of Barney Frank’s legislation,” he said.

Becker said remedying the situation requires better communication with the Education Department, not an abandonment of the provision as Frank’s legislation proposes.

Armentano also opposes attaching conditions to federal assistance, and said that poorer students will shoulder the burden. “The focus is on people who are less fortunate. They will bear the brunt of these denials of federal aid,” he said.

Allenbrand said dishonesty in filling out the FAFSA constitutes fraud that can warrant fines and jail time.

But, Armentano said, verification could pose a problem for the Education Department because the federal government does not have the resources to check criminal records. As a result, he said, students can circumvent the provision.

“No one is going to honestly check the box, knowing that they don’t have the capacity to check records,” he said.

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