President Johnson Wednesday signed into law the 1968 Higher Education Act, which includes an amendment cutting off federal aid to students who participate in campus disorders.

The act authorizes $7.3 billion in federal aid to private and public universities through 1971. Under the so-called "anti-riot" amendment, students who fail to obey a lawful order of university authorities or are convicted of a crime involving seizure of university property will lose federal aid for two years, if a university hearing finds the offense "contributed to substantial disruption of an institution's administration."

More Lenient

This amendment is considered the more lenient of two "anti-riot" amendments approved by the Congress this fall, since it leaves university administrators--not government officials--with most of the power to decide who will lose federal aid.

The second, tougher "anti-riot" amendment--attached to the Labor-Health, Education and Welfare Appropriations Bill--makes no provision for a university hearing. This measure will be sent to the White House as soon as the House and Senate resolve a disagreement on an unrelated section of the appropriations bill.

The measure just signed will affect more than 1.4 million students--one fourth of all college students in the country--who are now receiving about $1 billion a year in federal loans, fellowships payments, scholarships, and work-study grants.

About 1200 to 1500 Harvard students received $1.2 million of the federal money, according to Peter K. Gunness '57, director of federal aid.

The anti-riot amendments were first introduced last May, shortly after the disorders at Columbia University.