July 2, 1999

Gaining Control of the Free-for-All in Financial Aid

By MICHAEL S. McPHERSON and MORTON OWEN SCHAPIRO

For more than 30 years, the U.S. system for financing undergraduate education has been based on the principle that colleges and universities, together with federal and state governments, should help financially needy students to pay for their education. Now, however, institutions are increasingly inclined to use financial aid to recruit the most-desirable students, and governments are shifting resources from