Reducing the emittance of the proton beams of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) could result in major cost savings. The beam size is proportional to the square root of the emittance. Smaller emittance therefore implies smaller beam size, which leads to a smaller required dynamic aperture for the magnets, which would lead to large cost reduction. The luminosity (L) of any collider isL=&ggr;f0BN1N2/4&egr;N&bgr;*, whereN1andN2are the numbers of protons per bunch in the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, respectively, and &egr;Nis the normalized emittance of the beams. A lower beam emittance allows one to use lower values ofN1andN2to achieve the same luminosity. Lower values ofN1andN2will lead to cost savings throughout the SSC complex, as less stringent beam loading requirements will be placed on the source, the linac, and the Low Energy Booster (LEB), and less synchrotron heating and gas desorption will ocur in the collider, reducing the demands of cryogenic and vacuum systems. Lower requiredNalso raises the possibility of a proton antiproton option at the SSC, which would entail the use of a single Collider ring, resulting in additional savings. This paper will evaluate many of the important issues relevant to electron cooling of proton beams for the SSC. It will be shown that there are several possible options for electron cooling at the SSC. All options require technological progress before they become feasible, and care must be taken to avoid proton beam instability and resonant crossing. But should the technological hurdles be passed, electron cooling may provide the means to greatly reduce the cost of a future high energy physics Collider. © 1995American Institute of Physics