Students caught using or selling drugs on campus are at risk of losing their financial aid.
An email sent on Sept. 13 reminded students of the regulation, which states that students convicted for such violations under federal or state law while enrolled at USF and receiving financial aid will lose eligibility.
The nationally upheld regulation comes from the Aid Elimination Penalty under the Higher Education Act.
Types of federal aid include Stafford loans, PLUS loans, Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, ACG grants and federal work-study.
Universities must provide a written letter of notice to each student who becomes ineligible for federal student aid due to a drug conviction, informing them of their eligibility loss and the methods available to regain it.
If a student continues to accept financial aid after being convicted, they are responsible for paying it all back.
The Federal Student Aid Handbook states a student may regain eligibility the day after the period of ineligibility ends, but only after successfully completing a qualified drug rehabilitation program, or passing two unannounced drug tests given by such a program.
The drug rehabilitation program must be recognized by federal, state or local government.
Per the Higher Education Act, a student will not be denied eligibility for a previous offense if it occurred during a period of enrollment for which the student was not receiving federal aid.
None of these rules related to drug use are new; the email was sent to reinforce existing rules.
The Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports tallies the number of violations committed on campus that have been reported to USF St. Petersburg Police Services and have been filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Violations for drug use have risen at USFSP since 2010. However, there were less arrests made last year than in 2011.
There were three drug-related arrests made in 2010, followed by 11 in 2011 and eight in 2012. Some students received the lesser punishment of a disciplinary referral. Four referrals were given out in 2010, 17 in 2011 and 10 in 2012.
Any member of the USF system can submit a disciplinary referral to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities in Tampa for an alleged violation of the Student Code of Conduct.
Once a referral is submitted, it is either accepted or rejected by the office, and the student will receive a letter of disposition. If the referral has been accepted, the letter will include the imposed formal charges, recommended consequence and/or the availability of a formal hearing.
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