Education Dept. Ends Linkage of Draft, Student Aid
The Department of Education has quietly dropped its controversial rule requiring colleges to verify that male students receiving federal financial aid have registered for the draft.
The rule had been set to go into effect this fall.
Department spokesman Duncan Helmrich said today that the rate of compliance among young men is so high that it isn’t necessary to have college aid administrators police the requirement.
Congress in 1982 passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Gerald B. H. Solomon (R-N.Y.) requiring student aid recipients to sign forms certifying that they had registered for the draft.
The Education Department then proposed a rule holding colleges accountable for verification.
Some students and civil liberties groups challenged the Solomon amendment, but the Supreme Court upheld it, 6 to 2, in July of 1984 as “plainly a rational means to improve compliance with the registration requirement.”
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
