Congress is examining whether a past drug conviction should determine a student’s financial aid status.

A national organization of college students, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, is the driving force behind the congressional proposal to have the question completely removed from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Question 31 on the FAFSA asks if the applicant has ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal substances. If the applicant has been convicted, aid can be cut.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., introduced a bill in March to remove the question from the FAFSA. It was added in 1998 by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., as a part of the Higher Education Act.

The act is winding its way through Congress for reapproval.

Other congressmen have proposed similar ideas, including reforming the act to only include people with more than one drug conviction.

Full aid, including federal grants, work-study money and subsidized government loans are still available to those convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs, but they have to complete an “acceptable” drug rehab program.

Whether aid is completely denied is determined by an eligibility date that determines when a previously convicted student is allowed to receive financial aid. Convicted students have to wait two years from their conviction date, according to the application.

For the 2005-06 school year, if this date is before July 1, 2004, the student receives full eligibility. Those with conviction dates between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005 receive partial eligibility, and those convicted after June 30, 2005 are ineligible for funding.

There’s a catch, though: No system is in place to check whether applicants who answer “no” are telling the truth.

“No one is going to tell the truth when you know you’ll be punished, especially if there is no way for anyone to tell if you lied,” said Miranda Myhre, freshman in art and design.

Roberta Johnson, director of Student Financial Aid, said that, generally, when people answer the question “yes,” it is a mistake.

Johnson said she has received no specific complaints from ISU students about the question.

“It really affects only a small portion of the students,” she said.

As of December 2001, 28,230 students have been denied financial aid because they admitted to a drug conviction on the FAFSA form; 11,417 were denied because they left the question blank, and 42,570 were convicted more than a year ago for possession or two years ago for sale and thus were eligible, according to Students for a Sensible Drug Policy’s Web site.

“I think most financial aid administrators would say they think the question should be removed; any disqualifications for financial aid should be done through the court system,” Johnson said.

Myhre agreed the question is too personal for the application.

“It’s kind of like asking a person if they’re a child molester to see if they’re eligible to have kids,” Myhre said.

“If you’re going to ask one personal question, why not ask them all?”

“Education is a way to deter drug use, so this is counterproductive,” said George Pappas, president and co-founder of the University of Iowa’s chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.

Iowa State does not have a chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy.

Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, said there are many problems with the question.

“Unfortunately, politicians used financial aid to make a social statement against drugs. This isn’t a deterrent,” Stone said. “Think of a 16-year-old kid sitting in his backyard about to take a toke. That kid isn’t going to think ‘I shouldn’t do this, it might reduce my chances for financial aid in the future.'”