Barriers to college attendance for the low income individual that are created by contradictory public assistance and college opportunity policies and practices are discussed, and short- and long-range recommendations to eliminate these barriers are suggested. Policies that create financial hardships for low income students are noted for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Short-range recommendations to eliminate these penalties to AFDC recipients are offered, along with additional recommendations for the following programs: Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance, and public housing. Long-range recommendations that require a fundamental restructuring of federal public assistance policies are also offered. It is proposed that reform is required to eliminate the barriers to self-sufficiency encompassed in current welfare policies. Five concerns are addressed in the recommendations: adequate financial resources for both subsistence and college attendance expenses, freedom from workfare requirements (earning benefits), information about the availability of public assistance, administrative simplicity, and support services to help low income citizens while the programs continue to be very complicated. (SW)