According
to the United States Department of Education, if a student is convicted of a
drug offense after receiving Title IV Aid, he or she must notify the Financial
Aid Office immediately and that student will become ineligible for further
federal aid and also be required to pay back any and all aid
received after the conviction.
Should
a conviction result, a student can take advantage of rehabilitation programs
that can make him or her eligible for federal financial aid again.
Students Convicted of
Possession or Sale of Drugs
- A
federal or state drug conviction can disqualify a student for Title IV Funds.
- Convictions
only count if they were for an offense that occurred during a period of
enrollment for which the student was receiving Title IV aid—they do not count
if the offense was not during such a period.
- A
conviction that was reversed, set aside, or removed from the student’s record
does not count, nor does one received when she was a juvenile, unless she was
tried as an adult.
The
chart below illustrates the period of ineligibility for Title IV Funds,
depending on whether the conviction was for sale or possession and whether the
student had previous offenses. (A conviction for sale of drugs includes
convictions for conspiring to sell drugs.)
|
1st
Offense
|
1
year from date of conviction
|
2
years from date of conviction
|
|
2nd
Offense
|
2
years from date of conviction
|
Indefinite
period
|
|
3+
Offenses
|
Indefinite
period
|
|
If the student was convicted of both possessing and selling illegal drugs, and
the periods of ineligibility are different, the student will be ineligible for
the longer period.
A
student regains eligibility the day after the period of ineligibility ends or
when he successfully completes a qualified drug rehabilitation program.
Further
drug convictions will make him ineligible again. It is the student’s responsibility
to certify to that s/he has successfully completed the rehabilitation program.