The extent to which student financial aid has changed the composition of young people attending and planning to attend college is considered. The income redistribution policies of the 1960s and 1970s included rapid expansion of federal financial aid programs and reflected a shift from the goal of promoting economic efficiency and faster economic growth to the goal of providing greater equity. Data from the annual Current Population Surveys show that little or no change occurred in the ratio of college enrollment rates for youth from families with income below the median relative to youth from families with above-median incomes. Additionally, data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 show no real changes in college attendance plans of high school seniors, after controlling for socioeconomic status and ability. It is concluded that student financial aid programs substituted public for private funds, thus reducing the burden of educational costs to college students and their parents. They did relatively little, however, to induce more youth from lower income families to attend college and they impeded economic growth by sacrificing economic efficiency. The major student financial aid programs, their rationale, and expected effects are reviewed. (SW)