The 1981 policy statement of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is presented. AASCU believes that low tuition offers the primary guarantee of access to educational opportunity with far more certainty than student aid programs alone. Aspects of the Higher Education Act of 1980 that AASCU has strongly supported include modification of the half-cost limitation, revision in the commuter allowance, further aid to self-supporting students, modification of the College Work-Study program, more aid to part-time and graduate students, and an increase in authorizations for the Supplementary Educational Opportunity Grant and National Direct Student Loan programs. AASCU opposes tuition tax credits as a way to help finance higher education because they would be highly expensive and inflationary, would encourage raising of tuition, and would most aid upper-income students attending high-cost institutions. Other significant improvements of the Act are noted, including changes in the continuing education or outreach programs, aid to college libraries, and a developing colleges program. The need for AASCU institutions to be concerned with overall budgetary, fiscal, and appropriations policy and with the developments of other federal programs that affect higher education is noted. AASCU leaders will continue to participate in decision-making regarding higher education by working actively on national boards such as the National Science Board. AASCU opposes the efforts of some state coordinating agencies to use federal laws to strengthen the power of such agencies over institutions of higher education. (SW)