After facing a DUI charge, you might feel surprised to hear that the conviction can result in such harsh penalties. This holds true even for those facing a first-time offense.
In particular, college students face unique threats. Your entire college path could end up altered by one single conviction.
Financial struggles
The College Investor discusses the impact of a DUI on your college career. First, it can prevent you from getting into your college of choice or even result in your expulsion. The latter is not too common except for cases that involve notable property damage, or the injury or death of another person. Having a criminal record can easily prevent you from making the cut in the entrance process, though.
On top of that, a college will usually pull all financial support in the event of a student facing a DUI conviction. This includes gifts, awards, scholarships, prize money and more. If you were depending on this to get through college, you may end up priced out.
Pay mind to the fact that you could end up booted off of campus housing, too. This often proves another financial hurdle, as you must instead rely on off-campus housing at the cost everyone else in the city must pay for it.
Challenges to your career choices
Finally, it can impact your career paths. Many fields will not hire someone with a DUI on record, even if it is just one. This includes government jobs, jobs that require a commercial driver’s license, and positions involving interactions with children.
Due to these many impacts and their enormous effects, it is important to take any DUI charge seriously from the start.
