The impact of financial aid on the distribution of undergraduates among South Carolina's postsecondary institutions during the 1972-73 to 1977-78 academic years was studied. The major purpose of the study was to determine and to demonstrate how changes in educational costs, family ability to pay for those costs, and available financial aid resources affect the way South Carolina students distribute themselves among public and private colleges and technical education centers in the state. The study utilized three separate data bases. The first data base included the survey responses of a representative group of students who were freshmen in South Carolina institutions and similar institutions in other Southern states in 1972. These responses were compared to those of students in other institutions throughout the nation. The responses were also compared to responses of 1977 South Carolina freshmen. The second data base included responses of South Carolina freshmen and undergraduates to the Student Resource Survey. The third data base included: aggregate data gathered from materials completed by institutional representatives; annual reports from the files of state agencies; summary statistics from the College Entrance Examination Board and the College Scholarship Service; student responses to the annual American Council on Education's survey of freshmen; and data from other sources. The analyses of these data are available in four separate impact study technical reports. (SW)