How a criminal record can impact your education

If you are receiving a criminal charge, you should not take that lightly because if you are charged and convicted of the crime you’re going to have a criminal record and this can impact your life in many ways. The immediate penalties are always an issue however having a criminal record can even affect your ability to get a good education. If you are charged with the criminal charge and you believe this is wrong, or you want to fight those charges to reach out to a criminal defense lawyer.

If you are a student and you’re hoping to pursue education in the future, then you are going to want to have a criminal conviction remove your record and this is why.

A criminal record can actually affect your ability to get into some colleges and some universities, in fact 66% of colleges are thought to collect criminal background information on some of their applicants, and depending upon the extent of the criminal history you could find yourself receiving rejection letters instead of acceptances. Furthermore according to many sources, violent crimes and sexual offenses are going to be the type of crime that are most likely to prevent you from being able to get a good education at the college that you were thinking of.

A criminal record can also make it harder or impossible to enroll in certain courses or programs that lead to the degree that you want. It depends heavily on the type of criminal charges you have against you, but if you have a charge for anything sexual related or violence related you may be unable to find yourself programs that will allow you to enroll and work around children, vulnerable adults and other groups. Furthermore even if you do get to enroll in these fields.

A criminal record can also impact your chances of receiving financial aid, it can even impact his chances of receiving scholarships and grants. And it can greatly affect your ability to take out a student loan. In fact according to federal student aid you are not able to qualify for the Federal Pell grants if you have been incarcerated in a state or federal correctional institution, and even after your release can be extremely difficult to qualify for those benefits because sexual and drug-related crimes are usually disqualified.

Talk to a criminal defense lawyer today about your criminal record and any charges you are facing and see what they can do to get those charges lessened or removed. With a criminal record you may find it hard to live in student housing, or even live on campus. If you’re trying to live on campus the University has to protect its other students and depending upon the crimes that you are charged with, the best way to do that may be to reject your application to live on campus. In student housing, they have to pick and choose who gets to live in student housing, and it’s considered a type of financial aid depending upon how you are paying for it.

Furthermore a criminal record is obviously going to impact the kind of job, the work experience you are allowed to have and the salary that you may receive at any jobs that you apply to even if you do get a degree. And if you have a criminal background you should be aware of programs that are accepting students with backgrounds in fields where the students would not be able to pursue their career. This means they are taking your money, and they are preparing you for a career that they know you cannot have due to your criminal background.

Talk to a criminal defense lawyer today about any criminal charges you are facing they can affect your life.