Since 1972, the Nixon and Ford administrations have sought to terminate two major "campus-based" student aid programs (Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and National Direct Student Loans), and to reduce funding of a third, College Work-Study. The policy has been renounced by both Congress and the academic community. (LBH)

Comment is offered on John Silber's proposed Tuition Advance Fund, under which a student could borrow to meet college costs and repay over a working lifetime in installments geared to income. This and the tuition tax credit approach are discussed in terms of the federal role in financing higher education and student access and choice. (LB H)

In view of New Jersey's history of diffidence with regard to education in general, Governor Brendan Byrne and higher education Chancellor Ralph A. Dungan in early 1974 named a Commission on Financing Postsecondary Education. Its "free market" fiscal plan calls for reduction of institutional subsidies and increased direct student…

Federal student assistance has become a tangled thicket of programs and policies. It is complicated, fails to focus benefits on the neediest students, and is increasingly expensive. Complexity and cost, grants or loans, who should benefit from student assistance and who should pay, and reshaping student aid are discussed. (MLW)

The recent history of trends affecting the affordability of college are summarized. A better balance needs to be established between loan and grant support for students. The Stafford Student Loan Program (formerly the Guaranteed Student Loan Program) and the Reishauer HELP program are discussed. (MLW)

College costs, methods of payment, and how the pressure to make money may be shaping enrollment patterns are reviewed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. There is some evidence that students who take sizable loans may major in such fields as business, engineering, and allied health, which offer higher salaries. (MLW)