A Texas drug conviction may lead to jail stints, hefty fines, community service obligations and other penalties, but if your college student gets one while receiving financial aid, it may lead to additional hardships. Currently, any college student who uses financial aid risks becoming ineligible for this assistance after a drug offense.
According to Federal Student Aid, an Office of the U.S. Department of Education, a drug conviction of any type may lead to a loss of financial aid eligibility. However, when authorities arrested your son or daughter is relevant. For the offense to impact financial aid eligibility, your child must have been using aid at the time of the arrest.
Reporting drug offenses
Your child must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid each year he or she wishes to use financial aid. The FAFSA form asks whether your child received any convictions for criminal offenses within the past year. If he or she answers yes, this may make your college student ineligible for aid for a year or longer, depending on circumstances.
Regaining financial aid eligibility
There are two ways your college student may be able to get financial aid back early following a loss. Completing a treatment program offered by an approved provider is one way to regain financial aid eligibility early. Passing two random drug tests from a particular administrator is a second possible way to do so.
Should your college student make efforts to regain financial aid eligibility early, make sure he or she tells the local financial aid office once he or she does so.