Once you leave for college and get a taste of freedom, you may find yourself partying and doing things you might not do under your parents’ watch. If one of those things involves using drugs, you may want to take some time to recognizes the possible consequences that come with drug use.
Using drugs and receiving a conviction for a drug-related criminal offense may expose you to possible jail time, hefty fines and other criminal consequences. However, as of recently, a drug conviction no longer affects your ability to use federal financial aid.
How drug violations used to affect financial aid
Until recently, any type of drug sales, drug possession or similar drug-related offense could make you unable to use financial aid for a year or longer. However, whether your offense affected your financial aid eligibility would depend on whether you were a current recipient of financial aid at the time authorities charged you.
Why drug violations no longer affect financial aid
Those opposed to drug violations impacting financial aid have long argued that penalizing students for drug offenses is ineffective. Instead, many argued, receiving a college education is a good way to help students abstain from drug use moving forward. While the Free Application for Federal Student Aid you must complete each year does ask about drug violations, listing them is not going to impact your financial aid eligibility.
Even if drug offenses do not lead to a loss of financial aid, they may lead to other serious penalties that may impact various areas of your life.
