Student grant assistance in New York is examined from the perspectives of its evolution and growth and the state's response to the federal Basic Grants program. It is claimed that the Scholar Incentive and Regents awards represented a large share of the expenditures that all states devoted to need-based student aid. The federal government used the New York student loan program, established in 1958, as a model for its own Guaranteed Student Loan program. The Scholar Incentive awards were replaced with the more generous Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) beginning in 1974-75. TAP increased the maximum award, from $600 under Scholar Incentive to $1500. Also, lower division undergraduates became eligible to receive TAP awards equalling full tuition charges, eliminating the Scholar Incentive $200 self-help provision for these students. TAP awards were increased in both public and private sectors, but students in private colleges and universities received the biggest hike. The legislation authorizing TAP also eliminated an income test for the receipt of a Regents award and reduced those scholarships to a flat $250. Further, students could no longer qualify for both a TAP and a Regents award. The contribution of the federal State Student Incentive Grant program and the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant program to student aid in the state are considered. New York's efforts to coordinate eligibility criteria, aid administration, award adjustment, and alternatives for coordinating TAP with Basic Grants are discussed. (SW)