As lawmakers continue to work to change more of the laws surrounding the legalization of marijuana, some organizations aren’t changing as quickly as the others. As a result, some groups are still suffering issues. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Education hasn’t changed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application early enough. As such, they couldn’t allow those with drug convictions to be eligible for aid. Luckily, as they accept this need for change, the Department of Education has made allowances for those that will be found ineligible.

Eligibility Problem

For this year, the FAFSA application will automatically disqualify applicants that admit to having drug convictions. However, the Federal Student Aid office has called those that have disqualified because of this. The office informed them to call their school’s financial aid office in order to continue eligibility. At the same time, the senior director of uAspire, a nonprofit focused on removing barriers to students receiving aid, has stated that applicants should still be honest when answering these questions.

Problem Causes

The Federal Student Aid office claimed in June that the reason behind this problem was due to how late the changes came to their attention. Congress approved these changes in December 2020. The office stated that this was not early enough to make the necessary changes on the  application. This is due to the fact that the application was released in October.

History

Before these changes were made, any student who answered “yes” to the question about their past drug charges would be ineligible for aid. However, even before the changes, they could still reverse this decision by completing a drug rehabilitation program. They could also reverse it by passing two random drug tests.

Potential

These changes come as a result of lawmakers slowly working to change the perception around cannabis use. In fact, recently, the US Council of Mayors has sought to, among other things, expunge past marijuana charges. This would deal with a lot of the issues people have run into when seeking financial assistance. In fact, some states are already helping to expunge these charges. However, if the Council has their way, it will be possible in all states.

It is the hope of many that as more changes are made, people will have an easier time seeking the financial aid that they need to get access to higher education.

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