College students are generally considered as a specific group which should receive financial assistance from the taxpayer. But the amount and type of assistance varies greatly through time and space. Various logics are possible and they can be combined in various ways. In France, the system of assistance was originally conceived as a way to enable the poor to undertake university studies. But it has become more and more complex and less and less homogeneous through time. Today, it is generally considered as lot inefficient and inequitable, and its cots is becoming a problem. Deep reforms are urgent.