175 organizations denounce HEA penalty

More than 175 prominent organizations have joined a sign-on letter asking Congress to repeal the Aid Elimination Penalty of the Higher Education Act (HEA). Coordinated by SSDP and DRCNet, the letter is the latest action in SSDP’s ongoing campaign to restore financial aid eligibility to students with drug convictions.

In the coming weeks, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) is expected to reintroduce the Removing Impediments to Students’ Education (RISE) Act. The sign-on letter asks members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill, which would reinstate aid to aspiring students by removing the confusing drug conviction question from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

This change was recommended by Congress’s own Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.

The organizations endorsing the letter include many experts whose opinions are regularly sought by Congress on policy issues.

The higher education experts signing the letter include the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the College Board, the National Education Association, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, and the American Council on Education. The organizations that specialize in substance abuse and criminal justice issues include the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, the National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence, the Association for Addiction Professionals, the American College Health Association, and the National Black Police Association.

“As a result of the Aid Elimination Penalty, I was forced to take fewer classes, work more hours at two jobs, and delay graduation considerably. The Penalty’s aim was to deter drug use, but its real effect is to deter education,” said Kraig Selkin, a Northern State University student who lost his financial aid eligibility because of a minor drug conviction. “I was lucky to be close to graduation and will be able to finish. Thousands of students affected by the punitive law are not so lucky.”

Nearly 200,000 students have lost financial aid eligibility since the measure took effect in 2000.  And although a partial reform enacted last year makes it so that the penalty only affects those who are receiving financial aid at the time of their conviction, tens of thousands of students are still impacted.

There is reason to believe that the RISE Act will fare better under the Democratically-controlled Congress than it has in the past. In fact, several Democrats who co-sponsored the bill in past years are now leading important committees. These include George Miller, chair of the Education and Labor Committee, John Conyers, chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Henry Waxman, chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi co-sponsored an earlier version of the bill.

“With the new leadership in Congress, we are very hopeful that 2007 could finally be the year that this harmful and unfair penalty is repealed once and for all,” said SSDP Campaigns Director Tom Angell. “Now, more than ever, it is important for students to take action and let members of Congress know how we feel about laws that affect us.”

To send a letter to your legislators through SSDP’s action center, visit www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com/aid.

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