Consequences of a drug conviction while receiving Title IV financial aid:
Colleges and universities are required to provide current and prospective students with a broad range of notifications concerning specific campus policies and programs.
One mandated federal disclosure is to let you know the consequences of a drug conviction while receiving Title IV financial aid. You will lose your eligibility for federal financial aid if you are convicted of a drug offense while you are a student at California State University Channel Islands.
A federal or state drug conviction can disqualify a student from receiving federal financial aid, such as the Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loan and the Pell Grant. Loss of eligibility for federal financial aid can also make you ineligible for aid from the CSU, such as the State University Grant, or from the State of California, such as the Cal Grant.
Convictions only count if they were for an offense that occurred during a period of enrollment for which the student was receiving federal financial aid—they do not count if the offense was not during such a period. Also, a conviction that was reversed, set aside, or removed from your record does not count, nor does one received when you were a juvenile, unless you were tried as an adult.
The chart below illustrates the period of ineligibility for financial aid, depending on whether the conviction was for sale or possession and whether you had previous offenses. (A conviction for sale of drugs includes convictions for conspiring to sell drugs.)
| Offense | Possession of illegal drugs | Sale of illegal drugs |
|---|---|---|
| 1st offense | 1 year from date of conviction | 2 years from date of conviction |
| 2nd offense | 2 years from date of conviction | Indefinite period |
| 3 plus offenses | Indefinite period | |
Convictions for both possessing and selling illegal drugs will result in loss of eligibility for the longer period if the consequence for each conviction is different according to the chart.