In the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education Act, Congress directed the National Center for Education Statistics to conduct a new study of higher education costs paid by institutions and prices paid by students and their families. This report is the final product of phase 1 of that study, which relied primarily on existing national data and statistical models, especially the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. The study analyzes trends in costs, prices, and revenues at postsecondary institutions from 1988-1989 to 1995-1996 (or 1997-1998 for public institutions). In both the public and private not-for-profit sectors, average tuition charges increased at a faster rate than inflation over the period of the analyses, and tuition charges also increased faster than most expenditure categories within the institutions. The overall share of revenue coming from tuition has increased on average for all institutional types in both sectors, compared with relative decreases in other revenue sources. Across all types of public institutions, in-state undergraduate tuition and fees increased annually, with a high of 4.3% at bachelor's institutions and a low of 3.4% at 2-year institutions. Comparable increases are seen for private institutions. Patterns in financial aid differed by type of institution, but more than two-thirds of first-time, full-time degree seeking undergraduates received aid at public colleges from any source. The models found no association between most financial aid variables and changes in tuition, with the single exception of institutional aid, which was found to have a positive association with tuition increases for public comprehensive and private not-for-profit institutions. In general, the study shows that available national data can be used to explore trends in revenues, costs, and prices for broad groups of institutions. Appendixes contain technical notes and a glossary. (Contains 73 tables, 5 figures, and 27 references.) (SLD)