This brief examines how specific college affordability policies and practices at the federal, state, and institutional levels can be strengthened to close racial equity gaps in college affordability and completion and to support widespread diversity and representation in higher education. By increasing access to financial aid and shifting the way colleges and universities equitably award and disburse funds, we can leverage financial aid as a marketing, recruitment, enrollment, and retainment tool for both low-income and minoritized students, and to counteract the chilling effect of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision curtailing the use of race-conscious admissions in higher education. Socio-economic status is not a perfect proxy for race, but affordability policies are a critical lever for equity, given that Latinx, Black, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI), and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) students receive multiple forms of grant aid at higher percentages than their white counterparts. The recommendations made in this paper will help close racial/ethnic and economic equity gaps in higher education without violating the SCOTUS decision. [Eileen and Harold Brown provided additional funding for this series of briefs.]