Change in 2001-2002 FAFSA Processing for Question 35

    The U.S. Department of Education (ED) recently released an Action Letter, GEN-01-05, concerning a change in 2001-2002 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) processing for non-responses to Question 35, the "Drug Conviction" question.  Beginning March 26, 2001, when an applicant leaves Question 35 blank, the resulting SAR and ISIR will be marked with 'C' code indicating that the applicant cannot be paid federal student aid.  Your school must receive a revised ISIR that shows a response to Question 35 of  '1' or '2' before disbursing any SFA funds.  Starting March 29, 2001, SFA will reprocess the ISIRs for those students who left the question blank prior to implementing this processing change.

    The revised Comment 53 text will read as follows: "You left Item 35 blank.  Your failure to provide an answer to this question makes you ineligible to receive Title IV aid.  Either indicate that you have never been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs or use the enclosed worksheet to determine you answer to this question.  In any case, you can correct this item by calling 1-800-4FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) or by going to www.fafsa.ed.gov.  You can also use your SAR.  Please understand that a drug conviction does not necessarily disqualify you from receiving student aid."

    If you have any questions concerning the change in 2001-2002 FAFSA processing for Question 35, please contact the SFA Customer Service Call Center at 1-800-433-7327, or by e-mail at sfa_customer_support@ed.gov.  A copy of this Action Letter is available of ED's web site at http://www.ifap.ed.gov/IFAPWebApp/index.jsp.  If you are unable to access ED's web site and would like a hard copy, please contact Stacey Roberts at (801) 321-7211.  Any questions regarding this Bulletin should be directed to the UHEAA Policy and Training Department at (801) 321-7166 or by e-mail at cjudd@utahsbr.edu.