Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- A federal judge in South Dakota upheld a law making students ineligible for federally backed college loans once they have been convicted on a drug charge.

U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann, ruling in a case brought by three student plaintiffs and backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, said that students enjoy no guaranteed right to financial aid and that the legislative branch has wide discretion in setting punishment for drug law violators.

``The Constitution affords no right to a higher education,'' Kornmann, based in Aberdeen, South Dakota, wrote today in his decision granting a dismissal of the case as requested by the defendant, the U.S. Department of Education.

The lawsuit was organized by Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a Washington-based advocacy group, which said it has not decided its next step. ``We're weighing our options,'' said Kris Krane, the group's executive director.

The suit argued that the law enacted in 1998 violates due- process and double-jeopardy provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

The law discriminates against poorer students who rely on federal aid to pay tuition, said Kraig Selken, a senior at Northern State University, in Aberdeen, and one of the three student plaintiffs. Selken, who lost his student aid after a marijuana conviction, said students have a harder time improving their lives because of the law.

The federal government spends more than $78 billion a year on student financial aid. About two-thirds of the nation's 19 million undergraduate students receive some type of assistance, according to the Education Department.

`Health and Safety'

The Education Department supports the law as part of a government effort ``to decrease illegal drug use and protect the health and safety of all our nation's students,'' department spokesman Chad Colby said after the suit was filed in March.

The Education Department initially enforced the law against students with any drug convictions. Under that policy, the law affected 35,000 students a year, said Adam Wolf, the ACLU's lead attorney in the case. Congress earlier this year revised the law, saying it applies only to convictions occurring while the student is in school.

The case is Students For Sensible Drug Policy Foundation v. Spellings, CIV. 06-3007, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of South Dakota.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Basken in Washington at pbasken@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 27, 2006 17:09 EDT