FAFSA Changes Make It Easier for People With Felonies to Get Financial Aid

A growing number of colleges and universities are removing questions about felony convictions from their financial aid applications — and for people who have also expunged their records, the path to pursuing higher education has never been more accessible.

The Shift in College Financial Aid Policy

For decades, many colleges included questions about criminal history on their institutional financial aid forms. These questions — separate from the FAFSA — asked applicants to disclose felony convictions, and in some cases, the nature of the offense. The information was used in awarding institutional aid, and in some cases, to deny scholarships or grants outright.

That practice is changing rapidly. As of early 2026, more than 200 colleges and universities have removed criminal history questions from their institutional aid applications, according to data compiled by the Institute for Higher Education Policy. An additional 340 schools have committed to doing so by the fall 2026 application cycle.

What the FAFSA Itself Already Changed

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has not asked about drug convictions since the 2014-15 application cycle, when a provision in the Higher Education Act removed that barrier. Prior to that change, convictions for drug possession — but not sale — could disqualify applicants from federal student aid.

For FAFSA purposes, a drug conviction does not automatically make someone ineligible. But a conviction that occurred while the student was receiving federal aid could result in a suspension. The question was largely removed a decade ago, yet many students and guidance counselors remain unaware of this.

The bigger shift in recent years involves institutional financial aid — the grants and scholarships that colleges award from their own funds. Unlike federal aid, these were previously subject to each school's own policies, which in many cases included considering criminal history.

Why This Matters After Expungement

Even after your record is expunged or sealed, practical barriers to education can persist. One of those barriers has been the institutional aid application itself — a college asking about your criminal history and using that answer to make awards decisions, even when the conviction no longer appears on a background check.

When a college removes that question from its application, expungement becomes more meaningful in practice. You don't have to decide whether to disclose something that no longer legally exists — because the school isn't asking.

For people who haven't yet expunged their records, the growing policy change doesn't eliminate the need to do so. But it does reduce the urgency in some cases. If a conviction is for a non-violent offense and a school has waived criminal history questions, someone with an unexpunged record may still qualify for institutional aid they would have been denied two years ago.

Which Schools Are Making the Change

The schools removing criminal history questions span a wide range — from large public research universities to small private liberal arts colleges. Some notable examples:

• University of Michigan — removed the question from its 2025-26 institutional aid application
• Ohio State University — committed to removal beginning with the 2026-27 cycle
• George Washington University — no longer asks on any institutional form
• University of North Carolina system — 17 campuses removed the question in 2025
• Private colleges in the Kenyon College consortium — several small private schools followed Kenyon in dropping the question

Many of these schools cite Second Chance Act implementation and their own reentry mission as motivations for the change.

What to Watch For

Despite the positive trend, important caveats remain:

• This doesn't apply to federal aid questions — for certain federal grants and programs (like work-study), eligibility rules related to drug convictions still exist in limited circumstances
• Some professional licensing schools still ask — nursing programs, medical schools, and other licensure-track programs often have their own background review processes that are separate from financial aid
• Housing background checks are separate — even if you qualify for financial aid, on-campus housing applications often run independent background checks with different standards
• Schools vary widely — the trend is real but not universal; many schools have not yet changed their forms

How Expungement Strengthens Your Position

If you're deciding whether to expunge your record before applying to college, the equation has shifted in your favor:

• An expunged record means you can honestly answer "no" to any criminal history question a school does still ask
• Expungement also removes the record from most consumer background checks, which some schools run as part of scholarship awarding
• If your record has been automatically sealed under your state's Clean Slate law, you're in the same position
• Even in states without automatic sealing, petitioning to expunge a conviction before applying for fall aid can eliminate the disclosure question entirely

What to Do If You're Applying to College

1. Check each school's institutional aid form — look for questions about criminal history before submitting. If you find one, call the financial aid office to ask how it affects your award.
2. File your FAFSA first — the federal form is separate and almost certainly won't be a barrier. File it even if you think you won't qualify for aid; many people are surprised.
3. Consider expungement before applying — if you have an eligible conviction and the timeline works, expunging before you submit applications removes the question entirely.
4. Look for Second Chance scholarships — several organizations offer scholarships specifically for people with criminal records, and many have removed background check requirements for recipients.
5. Contact the school directly — if you disclose a conviction and see your aid affected, ask the financial aid office to explain the basis for the decision. In some cases, disclosure leads to a conversation rather than a denial.

The Bigger Picture

Education has long been cited as one of the most effective reentry tools for people with criminal records — improving employment outcomes, reducing recidivism, and strengthening communities. The convergence of expungement law expansions, automatic sealing in 14 states, and now institutional financial aid policy changes is making higher education more accessible for people who have been locked out in the past.

The trend is not yet universal, and significant gaps remain. But for someone with a past conviction who is considering going to college, the landscape in 2026 is meaningfully better than it was even three years ago.