The federal contribution to higher education is discussed in terms of the evolution of its role from 1787 to 1958, the growing regulatory presence, the National Defense Education Act, the Higher Education Acts of 1963 and 1965, the 1972 Higher Education Amendments, and recent legislative actions. Specific chapter discussions cover the following: postwar trends, federal land grants for higher education, the Morrill Land Grant College Act, the G.I. Bill, federal research grants to universities, equal opportunity policies, the politics of regulation, Title IX, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1964 (the Buckley Amendment), tuition tax credits, the Department of Education, policy analysis, constraints on the federal role, and speculation on the future. The following appear in tabular form: estimated expenditures of institutions of higher education, by source of funds, alternate years (1960-1976); estimated expenditures of different forms of federal aid by institutions of higher education, alternate years (1960-1970); trends in costs of implementing federally mandated social programs (1965-1975); total outlays for higher education, by source of funds, selected years (1939-1970); federal funds as a percentage of the total current income of universities and colleges, by control of institution (1939-1970); estimated expenditures of institutions of higher education, by source of funds, selected years (1960-1977); and the development of Washington representation in higher education. It is shown that the scope of the federal contribution to higher education has grown since World War II. In fiscal 1977, the federal budget for higher education was approximately $11.75 billion and growing. Including all major forms of aid, this constitutes about one-fifth of all funds spent by public institutions of higher learning and about one-third of total private school funds. (CC)