This monograph offers new ways of looking at long-term trends in four-year college charges to undergraduates, the ability of students and families to pay them, and trends in college prices in relation to the earnings outcomes of college attendance. After an introduction, the monograph focuses on: "Trends in College Prices and Family Incomes"; "Trends in College Graduates' Earnings"; "Paying for College Charges with Increased Earnings"; "The Cost versus Benefit Analysis for Students Who Leave College without Degrees"; "Changes in College Participation and Graduation Ratios"; "State-by-State Differences in College Affordability"; "State-by-State Differences in Graduation Productivity Ratios"; "State-by-State Differences in Affordability and Graduation Productivity"; "Some Policy Implications of the Long-Term National Trends"; and "Some Policy Implications of the State-by-State Patterns." Four tables are appended. (Contains 40 references.) (SM)