Expert: Les Thomas - 1/31/2012

Question
My son is 18 years old and is going to be convicted of a felony for burglary in the first degree and possible a misdemeanor gang enhancement. My question is will he be able to get financial aid to go to college in California, he has no drug charges and no weapons charges.

Thank you so much for your time.

Answer
Elisa,

I am sorry to hear that, I know that is not what you envisioned for your sons life - but we all make mistakes, get misguided, and the choices we make in our lives sometimes do not lead to favorable results.  This is a great opportunity for him to learn a great lesson, and how he goes on from this point will reveal whether or not he has learned.

From the College perspective a misdemeanor conviction generally will not render a defendant ineligible for federal financial aid but a criminal record might impact his or her ability to be admitted to higher education facilities, depending on the educational facility admission policy.

According the the FAFSA website...The Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended (HEA) suspends aid eligibility for students who have been convicted under federal or state law of the sale or possession of drugs, if the offense occurred during a period of enrollment for which the student was receiving federal student aid (grants, loans, and/or work-study).

To get some further guidance, you may want to call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).

I hope this helps... and if you're interested in lowering the cost of College by a minimum of $50,000 - Guaranteed - call College Funding Connection at 1-619-778-5828, and see if they can help as well.