A central dream of American parents is sending their kids to college. What used to be unusual has now become a necessity if young people are to have a secure life in the middle class in a post-industrial economy. As such, one basic goal of higher education policy should be to make certain that this opportunity is not foreclosed by a family's income or wealth. In a society where 40 percent of students are non-White, it is more important than ever to be sure that minority students can go to college. In a society that does not believe in welfare or social supports, and where fairness rests on supposedly equal access to the education needed for economic success, these should be basic principles. In a society where the cost of college is soaring, affordability is a basic dimension of fairness. Unfortunately, it is being lost in too many state policy changes. This report is divided into the following chapters: (1) State Merit Scholarship Programs: An Overview (Donal E. Heller); (2) The Devil is in the Details: An Analysis of Eligibility Criteria for Merit Scholarships in Massachusetts (Donald E. Heller); (3) Who Are the Students Receiving Merit Scholarships? (Patricia L. Farrell); (4) Georgia's HOPE Scholarship and Minority and Low-Income Students: Program Effects and Proposed Reforms (Christopher Cornwell and David B. Mustard); (5) The New Mexico Lottery Scholarship: Does It Help Minority and Low-Income Students? (Melissa Binder and Philip T. Ganderton); and (6) The Impact of Financial Aid Guarantees on Enrollment and Persistence: Evidence from Research on Indiana's Twenty-First Century Scholars and Washington State Achievers Programs (Edward P. St. John). Individual chapters contain references. (Contains 42 tables and 20 figures.) [Foreword for "State Merit Scholarship Programs and Racial Inequality" written by Gary Orfield.]