Issues are discussed relating to student financial aid and aid policies in higher education. A review of the economic outlook for higher education in the near future is given, with attention to enrollment trends, rising costs, and age distribution for faculty for 1972 and projected for 1990. Competition for students is discussed. The current debate over whether the economic burden on families is increasing is discussed in detail, illustrated by data on students costs in a number of institutions. Pricing and eligibility policies and formulas are discussed and charted. Elements of the discussion are student expense budgets, expected parental contribution, and public versus private sectors. It is noted that the current system of student financial aid has two important characteristics to consider: (1) it is a thoroughly developed, pervasive, and well-functioning system of price discrimination; and (2) the system's outcome depends on two forces: those establishing prices and those establishing policy for adjusting them, which in higher education are often separate groups. It is concluded that the present system has these results: it helps eliminate the tuition gap; and the expected family contribution as a percentage of family income is at a maximum for the family that just fails to qualify for aid. Several problems are foreseen in the future of the current system: sensitivity to student costs, and competitive pricing; loss of financial privacy of families of applicants for aid; efforts to depart from the need-based system to attract students; and a need for fairness in treatment of independent students. (MSE)