College students who are convicted of a drug-related crime within the past year could lose their financial aid because of a new provision under the Higher Education Act.

The new law, which will go into effect July 1, states that the federal government is now required to delay or deny financial aid for any student convicted of drug-related crime in the past year.

The law was modified by the U.S. House of Representatives over the last two years. Originally, the federal government would deny or delay loan and grant applications from students if they had a drug conviction in their lifetime.

Earl Dowling, ISU director of the Financial Aid Office, said he believes the modification by the House is a step in the right direction. He said there was a lot of red-tape confusion because past applications for financial aid asked if students had ever been convicted of a drug-related crime.

“There was a significant amount of confusion by people about how to answer that question; there were hundreds of financial aid applications held up for processing because of this drug question,” Dowling said, “so many, in fact, that the department gave permission for universities to process these applications as normal without regard to that question.”

Dowling said the old law could be problematic because some students, especially nontraditionals, were being penalized for crimes that happened years ago.

“A student that was convicted of a drug crime in the past was being penalized, and it made it hard for colleges and universities to comply with this law,” Dowling said. “Just this week, Congress proposed a law that would make it so students would only be affected if they are convicted of a drug offense while in college. I think the House is moving in the right direction.”

However, some critics said they believe the law would make it more difficult for people to go to college, especially minority and low-income students.

Marty Ryan, assistant director and lobbyist for the Iowa Civil Liberties Union in Des Moines, said the law is an extension of the U.S. government’s drug policy and reflects a hypocritical attitude.

“This war on drugs is out of hand,” he said. “Somebody under peer pressure takes a couple of tokes when the cops bust in, and your future goes down the drain. We try to encourage kids to go to college and now the people who make laws, who used to sit around and pass a joint, are saying students today can’t do that.”

As for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents individuals for free, Ryan said the new law will likely put a financial strain on the organization.

“You get busted, you lose your loan. It’s gonna be a resource breaker,” he said.

Ben Byrne, ISU alumnus and founding member of ACLU@ISU, said the new law amounts to double jeopardy by punishing students twice for the same crime.

“There is an existing framework to punish people who break the law, this is not instead of, this is in addition to the current punishment,” said Byrne, who graduated in May. “This is just another step in the unholy drug war. Police powers are always expanding. It’s easier to get people busted with less and less evidence.”

Byrne said he believes the effect of the new law on college students would amount to discrimination. He added that when the ISU chapter of ACLU resumes activity in the fall, it will definitely take a look at this issue.

“This will not help keep students off drugs,” he said. “I would hope that whoever has passed this law was familiar with the effect. [Minorities] will be affected more and benefit more from financial aid. It’s going to do more to harm them than some suburban white kid who probably doesn’t need the financial aid.”

Dowling said he is glad the law will not apply to students’ records before they come to college, but he said he does not believe the majority of ISU students will be affected regardless of how it is executed.

“I’m pleased that the law will not apply to students convicted before they came to Iowa State or before they applied for financial aid,” he said. “I don’t think you’re going to find very many students affected. I don’t believe very many students receiving financial aid are convicted of drug offenses. What I’d really like to see is to not have the Financial Aid Office involved in this at all.”

Under the new law, students with drug convictions are given the option of restoring their eligibility for financial aid by undergoing rehabilitation at an approved program.

But Brian Dunn, interim supervisor of the Student Wellness Center, said he believes some college students might actually be discouraged from seeking treatment from the university for fear of losing their financial aid.

“I don’t know that this is a program that will be terribly effective,” Dunn said of the new law. “There are already enough penalties for drug use and abuse that I don’t know that adding another penalty will matter.

“As far as how it will affect students getting help, I think it could interfere if they thought the possibility for punishment was there. It could be a barrier to seeking treatment.”

Dunn said students with substance-abuse problems have nothing to fear from ISU organizations such as the Wellness Center, the Student Health Center and Student Services.

“We have a pretty strict confidentiality policy at the Student Health Center,” Dunn said. “All the laws protecting confidentiality in the outside world apply here, all matters are confidential between a student, their physician and their provider, and no one can get that information without written permission from the client.”