This document, the third in a series of research reports on student financial aid, examines attitudes of Americans toward borrowing to finance educational expenses between 1959 and 1983. The impetus for the study was interest in the effects of the Federal Government's shift in student aid emphasis from grants to loans during this period. The study analyzed data from surveys of consumer finances previously collected for the Federal Reserve System. Findings indicated that Americans express a high degree of willingness to borrow to finance educational expenses with educational loans consistently viewed favorably by 70% to 80% of the population over the 24-year period. Groups less favorably inclined to borrow to finance educational expenses include women, older persons, the less educated, those with low household income, and Hispanics. Possible implications for public policy include attempting to change attitudes about borrowing among groups reluctant to finance attendance costs through loans, improving existing programs of grants, or developing additional alternatives to loans that are more acceptable to aid applicants. Data are presented in both narrative and graphic forms. Tables are appended. Contains 22 references. (SM)