Since 1978, when the Middle Income Student Assistance Act was passed, federal, state, and institutional student financial aid developments have consistently expanded programs, eligibility, and benefits for students from middle and affluent family income backgrounds. Poverty-level students have experienced substantial declines in gift aid and increased use of loans, while students whose family incomes were more than 200% of the poverty threshold reported less use of student loans and greater gift aid. The 1980s also saw growing disparity between college participation rates of students from the bottom and top halves of the family income distribution; this finding holds for males, females, whites, blacks, and Hispanics. States serve as the largest reservoir of middle income and affluent student financial aid, and state appropriations to need-based student aid programs targeted on low-income students constitute less than 6% of state support for higher education. Institutional gift assistance appears to be awarded to students without regard to financial need. The financial aid goal of equalizing higher educational opportunity for the most financially disadvantaged groups has not been achieved, and during the 1980s the higher educational participation of the poor greatly deteriorated relative to that goal and relative to what was accomplished during the 1970s. Includes 20 references. (JDD)