Based on 22 focus groups conducted at institutions located in a Midwestern metropolitan region, this study explores working, commuting and adult-learner college students' implicit theories about financial aid policy and seeks to understand how students make sense of their own experiences in paying for college. The institutions participating in the study included two region-serving public universities and two campuses of a multi-campus community college. In analyzing the data, we draw in part on a social reproduction perspective and employ critical qualitative methods to highlight both individual and structural roles within the higher education system.