Student aid policy around the developed world depends to varying degrees on the idea that the cost of post-secondary education needs to be subsidized. Despite the fact that governments around the world are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to support and widen participation in higher education, policymakers pay surprisingly little attention to what the research on these subsidies actually says. The purpose of this paper is simple: to summarize the literature with respect to grants and their impact on access to education. (Contains 9 footnotes and 3 figures.) [Much of the text in this document comes from a paper given in Bangkok in March 2006 for the conference, "Higher Education Financing Policy to Support, the Accumulation of Human Capital," which was co-financed by UNESCO and the Student Loan Fund of Thailand. This document was published by the Educational Policy Institute (EPI).]