Congress is considering whether or not to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, which provides for federal programs that support, among other things, financial aid for college students. The United States Student Association has coordinated lobbying efforts to ensure HEA reauthorization, and to ask for specific amendments to the act. One amendment it should lobby hard for and to which legislators should pay particular attention pertains to financial aid and drugs.

Thousands of students are denied financial aid every year because they check “”yes”” on question 35 of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, asking them if they have ever been convicted of a drug-related crime. This question was added to the FAFSA in 1998, when the HEA was amended to make federal grants, loans and work-study programs unavailable to those convicted of possessing, using or selling drugs. The law was intended to bolster the nation’s war on drugs, but is misguided, ineffective and unfair.

This provision doesn’t seem to be doing anything to reduce high school and college students’ drug use. The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s figures show minimal change in percentage of high school students using illicit drugs over the last five years.

Furthermore, there is no logical connection between a drug conviction and how deserving someone is of financial aid. Some argue that changing this law would be condoning drug use. Yet no one argues that the federal government condones murder, rape or automobile theft — all crimes of which one may be convicted and still be eligible for federal financial aid under the HEA. Drug offenses are singled out, though they are often minor charges for possession — “”youthful indiscretions”” that do not hinder someone’s chances for college success.

But a criminal past of any kind should not affect financial aid. If someone has paid his or her debt to society and gotten into a university, a college education could be the difference between falling back into a life of crime and bettering his situation.

The HEA is crucial to educating talented students of all economic backgrounds and should be reauthorized. However, it must be amended to prevent the government’s withholding of federal aid from students who could benefit from it.