The 1980 General Assembly in approving House Joint Resolution Number 7, requested the Council of Higher Education to conduct a comprehensive study of the financial aid available to Virginia students. It also asked the Council to determine if the financial need of the students is being met, especially in view of the increasing funds made available through the federal student aid programs, assess the effectiveness of the State financial aid programs, and to recommend ways in which the various State and federal programs might be better coordinated.

The Council's study was greatly influenced by the changes made in the federal student aid programs during the re-authorization by Congress of the Higher Education Act of 1965. In the opinion of the Council, the modifications adopted during this process, which was concluded in October, 1980, seriously threaten the future of the federal effort to provide aid to students. For this reason, much of this study is devoted to a discussion of the problems at the national level and to a consideration of how the revised federal aid programs might affect the states, especially Virginia.

The study also reviews and makes a number of recommendations concerning the major State aid programs. Some of the recommendations will, if adopted, result in an additional expenditure of State funds. The estimated cost of the recommendations, if fully funded, would be approximately $17 million in the 1982-84 biennium. In order for the Commonwealth to meet the increasing financial need of its students and continue to promote diversity in its system of higher education, the Council believes that the increased costs are justified.