This discussion of how the effectiveness of federal student aid can be evaluated is framed in terms of three questions: (1) Has federal student aid expanded educational opportunity; that is, has it encouraged the enrollment and broadened the educational choices of disadvantaged students? (2) Has federal student aid made the distribution of higher education's benefits, and the sharing of its costs, fairer? (3) Has federal student aid made higher education institutions work better, by making them financially more secure and educationally more effective? Each question is discussed, followed by a brief conclusion pointing out the compatibility of the three points of view represented by the questions. Two tables summarize data on predicted distributions of enrollments in 1979 with and without the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant Program, and federal aid per freshman student across all institutions. The document contains 31 references. (KM)