Should Prior Offenders Get Financial Aid? Congressional Leaders Say Yes

Members of Congress introduced a bill last Thursday that seeks to reverse the effects of a Higher Education Act provision many critics believe is another example of how America's war on drugs has evolved into a war on black and poor people. The Removing Impediments to Student’s Education Act, authored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), would restore eligibility for federal aid to qualified students from low and middle income families and eliminate the need for the question about drug convictions on the free application for federal student aid. Since the bill was introduced in February 2003, 69 other representatives in Congress have signed on as co-sponsors -- the most cosponsors ever on a bill to repeal the drug provision, according to Chris Mulligan, communications director of the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform. Currently, the Solomon-Souder amendment to the HEA Act of 1965 blocks ex-drug offenders from receiving federal student aid. The bill was introduced by Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) in 1998 and has received sharp criticism from drug policy reform activists. Since the enactment of the provision, over 165,000 applicants with prior drug convictions have been denied federal student aid, according to Department of Education figures. [more]