This document presents the minutes of a field hearing before the Budget Committee of the United States House of Representatives generally regarding the aspirations and financial needs of American college students in 1996. Students from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and North Carolina addressed the Committee. The discussion focuses on the efforts of the current administration to enlarge the number of financial aid opportunities for college students. Among topics addressed are the Social Security Trust Fund, the earned income tax credit, tax fraud, tax cuts, the national debt, balancing the budget, teacher salaries, student needs, school safety, crime, unemployment, the national savings rate, private schools, the taxpayer revolution, the school lunch program, inner city problems, and urban flight. (CK)