Data from many governmental and nongovernmental sources are gathered to emphasize that many people now are kept out of college because of student charges, especially tuition; and that a major effort is needed to help reverse the trend toward higher student charges and lower enrollment rates. It is shown that the rate of full-time college attendance has declined precipitously, especially among students from low- and middle-income families. The percentage of high school graduates going to college is especially low in states with high tuition, as is the percentage of Vietnam veterans going to college in those states. Studies are reported which suggest that: lowering tuition increases the number of students going to college; (2) low-income students would be extremely responsive to reduced tuition rates; (3) many families are hard hit when more than one dependent attends college at the same time; and (4) very few families have adequate funds to meet college costs. Current student aid programs are not adequate to meet the needs of most students, particularly working-class and middle-income students, as well as older and part-time students. (LBH)