The Numerous Ways in Which a Juvenile Record Can Limit College Opportunities.

Juvenile records on your history can damage your chances of getting into the college of your dreams. Even if you have an impressive high school transcript, any form of juvenile conviction on your record will make college admissions considerably more difficult. It may also have an impact on your ability to obtain a student loan.

More than 60% of American colleges take criminal past into account as part of the admissions process. This can put juveniles who made poor judgments as adolescents at a significant disadvantage regarding future career and education options. However, it is possible to expunge a juvenile record. Read our blog to learn how juvenile records can affect college admissions.

How Can Juvenile Records Affect Your College Admissions?

Every year, at least 120,000 college candidates with a criminal conviction are refused admission. Applicants to colleges and universities are regularly asked about their criminal and juvenile backgrounds in hundreds of legally distinct ways. They can decide to refuse you admission if they learn that you have a criminal history.

All Colleges conduct thorough background checks to comply with the conditions of affiliation agreements. The applicants must honestly respond to the question about their criminal history on the college application because the authorities will be able to uncover an applicant's criminal history in any scenario.

Juvenile records can have an impact on the following things in addition to admissions:

Financial Aid Denial

The Federal government offers several financial aid options to students. You may have difficulty receiving government financial help if you have a criminal record. This is because the government will not provide financial support to students who have been convicted of a felony, a misdemeanor, or a drug offense. According to Federal Student Aid, you cannot obtain a Federal Pell Grant if you have been convicted of a forcible or nonforcible sexual crime. 

Applying for financial aid is essential if you want to attend the institutions of your choice. However, juvenile records can act as a barrier to that. You can still seek financial aid to help pay for your education. Many private organizations provide grants, scholarships, and even loans to students who need financial assistance to pay for education. If you know you won't be able to secure government support, you can apply for private scholarships. Your past criminal records may be an issue since organizations may be reluctant to trust you. Hence, it’s always best to consider expungement if you plan to apply for financial aid.

Difficulty in Enrolling for Certain Courses

Depending on your conviction, you may be unable to enroll in programs that train you to work with children, vulnerable people, or other similar groups. Even if you are admitted, a criminal background will frequently prevent you from using your degree in a relevant field. With a criminal record, it can get difficult to enter into areas such as teaching, accountancy, and policing too.

Also, this significantly impacts graduate medical and nursing programs that need supervised clinical hours. Even if you get admissions for such courses, it might get difficult to enter into the field and practice as a profession.

Difficulty in Obtaining Student Housing

Juvenile records can not only affect your application process to the college but can also take a toll on your opportunities to obtain student housing. You might not be given hostel facilities, and even landlords outside the campus might investigate your criminal records. This can even lead to college applications getting immediately rejected.

Even if you get admission, not having a proper place to stay can impact the quality of your education. Your records can be visible to the public, so people might hesitate to help you with housing or hostel plans.

What Can You Do to Save Your Future?

Even though having juvenile records can make things more challenging for you, there is a way you can eliminate all these records. You can work with a skilled criminal defense lawyer to get your charges reduced, dismissed, or expunged. A court or prosecution cannot view a person's erased history. The other option to consider is sealing, which conceals a person's criminal record from the public eye, but it may still be viewed with a court order. This will vanish your records and pave the road for your bright future.

Your criminal background does not have to be a drawback when applying to colleges. Put your mistakes in the past behind you with the assistance of Washington Record Expungement - you can have your criminal records removed. Our law firm specializes in juvenile record sealing in Washington and will help you with the removal of your previous juvenile records.

We are here to help you; fill out this form or call us at 253-290-3307, and we will get back to you soon!