A growing share of high school graduates have enrolled in college over the past three decades, a positive trend driven primarily by enrollment increases amongst students from low- and moderate-income families. At the same time, the net cost of college has increased significantly--for a population that is now less able to afford those increases--and significant variation in college costs exists across states. Higher education finance requires both state and federal financing roles. Educating the future workforce of a state requires understanding the skills and programs needed to grow a state's economy, a role that states have historically held. But as more students with need enroll and education costs rise, the scale of future investment required and the inequities seen across and within states cry out for a bolder federal investment. The federal government has fashioned partnerships with states to meet a variety of policy objectives. Research on trends and effects of both federal and state financing of higher education, combined with lessons drawn from federal-state partnerships in other sectors, can help inform the design of a new federal-state partnership to improve college affordability. In this report, the author analyzes the following six key design choices a college affordability program would need to make, and incorporate lessons to recommend a path forward: (1) Structure New Affordability Proposals as a Federal-State Match; (2) Choose a Variable Match Rate Rather Than a Flat Match Rate; (3) Set a High Match Rate for the Federal Government Share of the Cost; (4) Attach the Level of Funding to Affordability Benchmarks that Include Tuition and Non-Tuition Costs; (5) Let States Buy In at Different Levels; and (6) Fund and Incorporate Quality- and Equity-Focused Requirements.