This article reviews the history of financial aid policy from the Higher Education Act of 1965 to its reauthorisation in 1992 and the subsequent ramifications upon African-American students. It considers issues of race and class with regard to college access. This work concludes with a look at contemporary aid, as well as offers race- and class-conscious financial aid by increasing college affordability to low-income students, as potential solutions to broadening educational access to Black Americans.