"I think it's ill-advised, given the records of so many young people and older people, particularly the president of the United States himself," Orfield said.
GSE Professor Patricia A. Graham agreed, saying that the policy could be counterproductive.
"It's not a good thing to get [a drug conviction]; on the other hand, it shouldn't affect the rest of your life if you're trying to turn yourself around," Graham said.
According to Donahue. CHEAR has not made its presence felt in Harvard's Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.
"I have not heard from those groups directly-I do know that nationally this has been a concern," she said.
Last week's decision came after over 100,000 students left the question blanks last year, which the Education Department attributed to confusing wording.
Of the 12,000 reports Harvard's financial aid office has received from the federal government this year, only two had left the question blank, Donahue said.