This report examines the decade of change in the U.S. system of finance for higher education, which has resulted in a set of programs and policies that are highly responsive to the demands of middle- and upper-income families for help but which are less well equipped to respond to the needs of lower-income families for assistance with their college investments. This paper documents this trend and examines the relationship between financing trends and trends in the enrollment patterns of U.S. high school students (e.g., college access and college choice). The paper also comments on the political economy of the developments being documented (e.g., forces that appear to be leading public policy in the directions identified and circumstances that might produce a different, and perhaps more favorable, outlook for financing policy). The paper concludes that, in most circumstances, when colleges and universities get more revenue, the result is that they do more social good. It claims that the intrinsic benefits of college to students are of at least as much importance as the gain in relative position that accrues from college education. (Contains 14 references.) (SM)