In 1980, about 1,100,000 newly minted bachelor's and first professional degree holders will enter the labor market if past trends continue. The financing patterns for higher education that develop in the next decade may be expected to have an impact on the characteristics of these new labor-supply entrants. The first part of this paper describes some alternative patterns of higher education financing that may emerge in the 1970's. The second section deals with how each alternative may be expected to affect three characteristics of the highly educated labor supply: their number and educational attainments, their socioeconomic backgrounds, and the appropriateness of their training for the manpower demands of the future. The third section contains an analysis of job preferences and labor force effort and participation rates, with an emphasis on the effect of student loan financing on these characteristics. Finally, the fourth section contains an evaluation of the previous parts and a discussion of the policy implications. (Author/MJM)