This report presents annual data on the amount of financial assistance available to help students pay for postsecondary education. Seven tables and seven charts provide a variety of statistics on student aid, family income, and college costs for the period 1987-88 through 1996-97, including aid awarded to postsecondary students in current dollars; aid awarded to postsecondary students in constant 1996 dollars; total cost of college attendance and family income; number of recipients and aid per recipient; number of loans and amount per loan; percentage distribution of aid from federal Pell grants, campus-based programs, and Stafford and PLUS programs; grants, loans, and work in current and constant 1996 dollars, and federal Pell grant awards. The data indicate that student aid from the federal government, states, institutions, and other sources topped $55 billion in 1996-97, up 5 percent over the previous year, with the growing reliance on loans responsible for two-thirds of this increase. Appropriations for federal grant aid have grown only slightly in constant dollars over the past year and decade, while average awards have declined sharply. An appendix contains two tables that provide basic program statistics back to 1963-64. (MDM)