What is the impact a DWI conviction on college?

Getting even one DWI conviction on record can do much more damage than most people expect. This holds particularly true for those just going into college, or who want to return to college to alter their career path.

The impact of a DWI conviction on a person’s college career is not only pronounced, but it might even completely alter the future for that individual.

Financial repercussions

The College Investor discusses the impact of DUI on college students and their futures. Generally speaking, a college will not expel a student just because of a DUI conviction unless the incident involved the harm of another student or severe property damage.

However, colleges will still act against the student in question. Most commonly, they will revoke financial support. This means a student can lose scholarships, awards, gifts and other forms of financial aid they had before the DWI.

Between this and the college’s ability to remove a person from on-campus housing, thus forcing them to use off-campus housing, a student may end up priced out of attendance. If they selected a college for its ties to a desired career path, this could put a damper on their entire career.

Loss of job prospects

Additionally, some jobs do not hire people with a DWI on record. This includes government positions and jobs that work with children, such as teaching positions or daycare jobs. In other words, a career path might end up closed off to someone just because of their DWI.

It does not matter whether this is a first-time DWI offense or not. The impact could remain brutal regardless.