If you live in Texas and are preparing to send your son or daughter off to college for the first time this year, you may have concerns about how he or she might behave in your absence. Often, kids who go out on their own for the first time experiment and test boundaries, and while sometimes, it proves harmless, it can also have considerable effects on your child’s future.
If, for example, your child begins experimenting with drugs and authorities arrest him or her on some type of drug charge, in addition to criminal penalties, your college student may lose his or her access to financial aid.
Drug crimes that can lead to financial aid ineligibility
Virtually any state or federal drug-related crime has the capacity to affect your college student’s financial aid eligibility. If authorities find your child in possession of drugs, this can lead to a loss of financial aid, and so, too, can drug charges relating to drug sales. Just how long might your child lose financial aid eligibility, if convicted on a drug charge?
Financial aid ineligibility duration
While there is no one-size-fits-all answer to just how long your college student can lose financial aid access following a drug conviction, you can anticipate the duration of the term to increase alongside the severity of the crime. The period of ineligibility also lengthens if your child has a previous drug conviction. First-time offenders facing simple possession charges, for example, may lose access to federal aid for one year, while repeat offenders and those convicted of more serious charges may lose access indefinitely.
Ultimately, whether your child will lose access to financial aid after a drug conviction depends on when the arrest occurred. To lose aid, the arrest must have occurred at a time when he or she was actively receiving federal assistance.
