This brief provides five recommendations for reforming the college financial aid system. Five principles for reform are presented: (1) The purpose of federal financial aid is to ensure that individuals who can benefit from college and would not otherwise attend are able to enroll. (2) Efforts to reform financial aid must limit the unsustainable increase in college prices. (3) Financial aid at all levels--institutional, state and federal--should be focused on those students who would not go to college without additional funding. This is the most efficient use of scarce resources. (4) The federal financial system should ensure access to higher education, not reward academic success nor attempt to steer students into certain sectors of the labor market. (5) Simplification of the process for application for aid and the process of repaying loans should be encouraged for the purposes of increased access and more efficient use of resources. Suggestions for a redesigned federal system of financial aid, and intended outcomes of the reforms are also presented. [For the full report, see ED544377.]