Through its Vision Project, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts has established a goal to produce the best-educated citizenry and workforce in the nation. Toward achieving this leadership status, the project has identified five key educational outcomes for the Massachusetts public higher education system: (1) College Participation; (2) College Completion; (3) Student Learning; (4) Workforce Alignment; and (5) Elimination of Disparities. This paper focuses on three of those outcomes: college participation; college completion; and the elimination of disparities in outcomes between different groups of students. It provides background information for developing and implementing state financial aid policy to achieve the goals identified within the key outcomes for the Vision Project. Other initiatives in the Vision Project are addressing the student learning and workforce alignment aspects. The Pros and Cons of State Aid Policies to Improve College Access and Success are appended. [This paper was prepared for the Massachusetts Working Group on Graduation and Student Success Rates.]