The growth of student financial aid during 1963-1983 is traced in relation to inflation, college costs, family income, enrollment, and other factors. Aid to students in public, private, and proprietary schools, including doctoral students, is reported. Attention is directed to federally-supported grants, loans, and work; state grants; and institutionally-awarded assistance. Although most references concern the total amount of assistance awarded to students in a given year, data are included on student aid appropriations for the federal aid programs. To take into account inflation, data are presented on current dollars and constant dollars. The information is presented in the following five sections: total aid awarded and federal appropriations; analyses of trends in total aid; aid per student and numbers of recipients; college costs, income, and student aid; and distribution of Pell and campus-based aid among institutions. Each section consists of a brief discussion of important facts and trends, followed by tables or figures. Two statistical appendices and a glossary of terms and acronyms are included, along with comprehensive data; extensive notes on the categories of aid, sources of data, and estimation procedures; and information on special problems encountered in selecting appropriate measures of income. (SW)