The use of either tax credits or an expansion of existing financial aid programs to aid middle income students is examined in this paper. Section I describes various types of mechanisms for providing student financial assistance and explains the current legislative proposals in relation to proposals of an earlier time. An evaluation of key legislative proposals is made in Section II. Section III and IV provide more detailed discussions of fundamental issues underlying the ongoing debate about government financial support of education. Section III evaluates the case for the existence of a "middle class squeeze." Section IV explores the case for the existence of support of private schools and institutions of higher education. Section V offers some conclusions and recommendations. (Author)