But a month later, when Mr. Selkirk applied for financial aid for the coming academic year, he faced another sentence, loss of eligibility for low-interest federal education loans and grants. It's like two penalties for the same crime. In the next few months, there are likely to be tens of thousands more students in Mr. Selkirk's situation. Under a law passed in 1998, but that is being fully enforced for the first time by the Bush administration, students convicted on drug charges become ineligible for federal financial aid and loans for one year after a possession conviction, or for two years after a conviction for selling drugs, unless they undergo a rehabilitation program that includes two random urine tests.
Repeat offenders can face permanent loss of federal assistance to attend college.
No other crime carries such a provision. Others complain that the law is biased against the poor, who rely on the aid, and blacks, who make up a disproportionate percentage of those arrested on drug charges. While about 13 percent of the people taking illicit drugs are black, the same as their proportion in the general population, blacks represent 55 percent of the drug convictions, said David Borden, executive director of the Drug Reform Coordination Network. It's a second punishment that only affects those who qualify for financial aid. Another 279,000 left the question blank, and were given the aid anyway, prompting complaints that the Clinton administration was punishing some students for their honesty.