The financing of higher education opportunities in California and the impact of current financial aid programs upon the formal structure of higher education and upon students is addressed. The issue of how Californians see student financial aid with particular emphasis on the extent of their understanding and the degree of their support is examined in two sections. Section 1 looks at public attitudes toward college costs and student financial aid, focusing on the following: costs of postsecondary education; overall support for financial aid; perceptions about who presently receives aid; personal characteristics and attitudes toward financial aid; north-south cleavages; and divisions over support for financial aid. Seven tables are included in this section. Section 2 is an exploratory study of parents' and students' (high school and college) attitudes toward the financial aid system in California. For college students, the report covers: financial management; optimism about the future; student financial aid (a right not a privilege); loans versus grants and scholarships; learning about financial matters; some upsetting institutional practices; applying for loans; impact of finances on academic choices; financing graduate school; dealing with disappointment; and evaluations of financial aid offices. High school seniors were asked about commitment to college, choosing a college, perceptions of college costs, information about financial aid, applying for aid, and fairness in the system. Parents discussed attitudes toward college, choice of college and major, financing college, and information about attitudes toward financial aid, attitudes toward loans, applying for aid, and mortgaging the house. (SM)