<PAGE> PAGE 1
000 B000000 7/31/97
000 C000000 853180
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 3.0
000 J000000 A
001 A000000 VKAC PRIME RATE INCOME TRUST
001 B000000 811-05845
001 C000000 6306846000
001Approval of New Investment Advisory Agreement in the event of a change
002 A000000 1 PARKVIEW PLAZA
002 B000000 OAKBROOK TERRACE
002 C000000 IL
002 D010000 60181
003 000000 N
003Approval of the selection of KPMG Peat Marwick LLP as Independent
004 000000 N
005 000000 N
006 000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000 0
007 C010100 1
007 C010200 2
007 C010300 3
007 C010400 4
007 C010500 5
007 C010600 6
007 C010700 7
007 C010800 8
007 C010900 9
007 C011000 10
008 A000001 Van Kampen American Capital Investment Adv
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-18161
008 D010001 Oakbrook Terrace
008 D020001 IL
008 D030001 60181
010 A000001 Van Kampen American Capital Distributors Inc.
010 B000001 8-19412
010 C010001 Oakbrook Terrace
010 C020001 IL
010 C030001 60181
011 A000001 Prudential Bache Securities Inc.
011 B000001 8-27154
011 C010001 New York
011 C020001 NY
011 C030001 10292
012 A000001 ACCESS Investor Services, Inc.
<PAGE> PAGE 2
012 B000001 084-01621
012 C010001 Kansas City
012 C020001 MO
012 C030001 64141
013 A000001 KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
013 B010001 Chicago
013 B020001 IL
013 B030001 60601
015 A000001 STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST CO
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 BOSTON
015 C020001 NY
015 C030001 02105
015 E010001 X
018 000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000 103
019 C000000 VANKAMPENA
020 A000001 MEENAN, MCDEVITT
020 B000001 06-1317056
020 C000001 13
020 A000002 DONALDSON LUFKIN JENRETTE
020 C000002 39
020 C000003 0
020 C000004 0
020 C000005 0
020 C000006 0
020 C000007 0
020 C000008 0
020 C000009 0
020 C000010 0
021 000000 52
022 A000001 BANK OF AMERICA
022 B000001 95-4035346
022 C000001 32489397
022 D000001 44084
022 A000002 CHASE MANHATTAN
022 B000002 13-2633612
022 C000002 6204858
022 D000002 37807
022 A000003 TORONTO DOMINION
022 B000003 13-6066548
022 C000003 4438238
022 D000003 68979
022 A000004 GOLDMAN SACHS
022 B000004 13-5108880
022 C000004 1401724
022 D000004 447
022 A000005 BANKERS TRUST COMPANY
022 B000005 13-4941247
022 C000005 752104
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 D000005 87521
022 A000006 CIBC
022 B000006 13-1942440
022 C000006 559843
022 D000006 17100
022 A000007 CITIBANK
022 B000007 13-3187336
022 C000007 398046
022 D000007 52648
022 A000008 STATE STREET BANK & TRUST
022 B000008 04-1867445
022 C000008 285000
022 D000008 0
022 A000009 MORGAN GUARANTY
022 B000009 13-5123346
022 C000009 226721
022 D000009 3155
022 A000010 NATIONSBANK
022 B000010 68-0193243
022 C000010 145523
022 D000010 29127
023 C000000 47474753
023 D000000 420479
024 000000 N
026 A000000 N
026 B000000 Y
026 C000000 N
026 D000000 Y
026 E000000 N
026 F000000 N
026 G010000 N
026 G020000 N
026 H000000 N
027 000000 N
028 A010000 149231
028 A020000 17712
028 A030000 0
028 A040000 -3285
028 B010000 160502
028 B020000 18260
028 B030000 0
028 B040000 0
028 C010000 184116
028 C020000 18336
028 C030000 0
028 C040000 171541
028 D010000 149408
028 D020000 20883
028 D030000 0
028 D040000 1701
028 E010000 148957
<PAGE> PAGE 4
028 E020000 17243
028 E030000 0
028 E040000 58
028 F010000 145146
028 F020000 18934
028 F030000 0
028 F040000 181366
028 G010000 937360
028 G020000 111368
028 G030000 0
028 G040000 351381
028 H000000 0
029 000000 N
034 000000 Y
035 000000 9076
036 A000000 N
036 B000000 0
037 000000 N
039 000000 N
040 000000 N
041 000000 N
045 000000 Y
046 000000 N
047 000000 Y
048 000000 0.000
048 A010000 4000000
048 A020000 0.950
048 B010000 3500000
048 B020000 0.900
048 C010000 2500000
048 C020000 0.875
048 D010000 0
048 D020000 0.000
048 E010000 0
048 E020000 0.000
048 F010000 0
048 F020000 0.000
048 G010000 0
048 G020000 0.000
048 H010000 0
048 H020000 0.000
048 I010000 0
048 I020000 0.000
048 J010000 0
048 J020000 0.000
048 K010000 10000000
048 K020000 0.850
049 000000 N
050 000000 N
051 000000 N
052 000000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 5
053 A000000 N
054 A000000 Y
054 B000000 N
054 C000000 N
054 D000000 N
054 E000000 N
054 F000000 N
054 G000000 N
054 H000000 Y
054 I000000 N
054 J000000 Y
054 K000000 N
054 L000000 N
054 M000000 N
054 N000000 N
054 O000000 N
055 A000000 N
055 B000000 N
056 000000 N
057 000000 N
058 A000000 N
059 000000 Y
060 A000000 N
060 B000000 N
061 000000 1000
062 A000000 Y
062 B000000 0.0
062 C000000 0.0
062 D000000 0.0
062 E000000 0.0
062 F000000 0.0
062 G000000 0.0
062 H000000 0.0
062 I000000 4.5
062 J000000 0.0
062 K000000 0.0
062 L000000 9.6
062 M000000 0.0
062 N000000 0.0
062 O000000 0.0
062 P000000 85.1
062 Q000000 0
062 R000000 0.3
063 A000000 0.0
063 B000000 5.45
064 A000000 N
064 B000000 Y
065 000000 N
066 A000000 N
067 000000 N
068 A000000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 6
068 B000000 N
069 000000 N
070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 N
070 B010000 N
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 N
070 C020000 N
070 D010000 N
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 N
070 E020000 N
070 F010000 N
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 N
070 G020000 N
070 H010000 N
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 N
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 Y
070 J020000 Y
070 K010000 N
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 N
070 L020000 N
070 M010000 Y
070 M020000 N
070 N010000 Y
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 N
070 O020000 N
070 P010000 N
070 P020000 N
070 Q010000 N
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 N
070 R020000 N
071 A000000 4994710
071 B000000 4028396
071 C000000 4869673
071 D000000 83
072 A000000 12
072 B000000 440296
072 C000000 0
072 D000000 0
072 E000000 31621
072 F000000 52314
072 G000000 13976
072 H000000 0
072 I000000 6310
<PAGE> PAGE 7
072 J000000 1389
072 K000000 0
072 L000000 335
072 M000000 30
072 N000000 0
072 O000000 0
072 P000000 0
072 Q000000 0
072 R000000 91
072 S000000 1645
072 T000000 0
072 U000000 0
072 V000000 0
072 W000000 3159
072 X000000 79249
072 Y000000 0
072 Z000000 392668
072AA000000 443
072BB000000 0
072CC010000 0
072CC020000 25147
072DD010000 390216
072DD020000 0
072EE000000 0
073 A010000 .698
073 A020000 0.0000
073 B000000 0.0000
073 C000000 0.0000
074 A000000 0
074 B000000 0
074 C000000 883034
074 D000000 5308571
074 E000000 9591
074 F000000 5596
074 G000000 0
074 H000000 0
074 I000000 564
074 J000000 756
074 K000000 0
074 L000000 68358
074 M000000 37
074 N000000 6276507
074 O000000 0
074 P000000 7226
074 Q000000 0
074 R010000 0
074 R020000 0
074 R030000 0
074 R040000 32313
074 S000000 0
074 T000000 6236968
<PAGE> PAGE 8
074 U010000 626018
074 U020000 0
074 V010000 9.96
074 V020000 0.00
074 W000000 0.0000
074 X000000 221229
074 Y000000 0
075 A000000 0
075 B000000 5591692
076 000000 0.00
077 A000000 Y
077 B000000 Y
077 C000000 Y
077 Q010000 N
078 000000 N
080 A000000 ICI MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
080 C000000 65000
081 A000000 Y
081 B000000 102
082 A000000 Y
082 B000000 100
083 A000000 N
083 B000000 0
084 A000000 N
084 B000000 0
085 A000000 Y
085 B000000 N
086 A010000 134357
086 A020000 1.34
086 B010000 12241
086 B020000 122898
086 C010000 0
086 C020000 0
086 D010000 0
086 D020000 0
086 E010000 0
086 E020000 0
086 F010000 0
086 F020000 0
088 A000000 N
088 B000000 N
088 C000000 N
088 D000000 N
450 Fifth S reet, N.W.
708-684-600
SIGNATURE DENNIS J MCDONNELL
TITLE PRES, CEO & TRUSTEE
KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
Peat Marwick Plaza
303 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 6O6O~-9973
The Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Van Kampen American Capital Prime Rate Income Trust:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of Van Kampen
American Capital Prime Rate Income Trust (the "Trust") for the year ended July
31, 1997, we considered its internal control structure, including procedures
for safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing procedures for
the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply
with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not to provide assurance on the internal
control structure.
The management of the Trust is responsible for establishing and maintaining an
internal control structure. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and
judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and
related costs of internal control structure policies and procedures. Two of
the objectives of an internal control structure are to provide management with
reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded against
loss from unauthorized use or disposition and that transactions are executed
in accordance with management's authorization and recorded properly to permit
the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any system of internal control structure,
errors or irregularities may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of
any evaluation of the structure to future periods is subject to the risk that
it may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of the design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not necessarily
disclose all matters in the internal control structure that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in which the design or
operation of the specific internal control structure elements does not reduce
to a relatively low level the risk that errors or irregularities in amounts
that would be material in relation to the financial statements being audited
may occur and not be detected within a timely period by employees in the normal
course of performing their assigned functions. However, we noted no matters
involving the internal control structure, including procedures for safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of
July 31, 1997.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
September 8, 1997
NSAR ITEM 77C
Van Kampen American Capital Prime Rate Income Trust
(a) A Special Meeting of Shareholders was held on October 23,1996.
(b) The election of Trustees of Van Kampen American Capital Prime Rate
Income Trust (the "Fund") included:
None
(c) The following were voted on at the meeting:
1) Approval of New Investment Advisory Agreement in the event of a
change of control of the Adviser.
For 33,443,125 Against 4,303,195
4) Approval of the selection of KPMG Peat Marwick LLP as Independent
Auditors.
For 278,838,120 Against 1,338,011
NSAR ITEM 77C
Van Kampen American Capital Prime Rate Income Trust
(a) A Special Meeting of Shareholders was held on July 9,1997.
(b) The election of Trustees of Van Kampen American Capital Prime Rate
Income Trust (the "Fund") included:
None
(c) The following were voted on at the meeting:
1) Approval of New Investment Advisory Agreement in the event of a
change of control of the Adviser.
For 461,708,052 Against 12,272,938
2) Approval of changes to Fundamental Investment Policies with
respect to investments in other investment companies.
For 302,236,461 Against 15,851,273
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<MULTIPLIER> 1
<CAPTION>
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> YEAR
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> JUL-31-1997
<PERIOD-START> AUG-01-1996
<PERIOD-END> JUL-31-1997
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 6238816399
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 6207356243
<RECEIVABLES> 69113472
<ASSETS-OTHER> 37212
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 6276506927
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 0
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 39539146
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 39539146
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 6270650999
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 626018023
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 486490317
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 5369829
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 0
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> (7592891)
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> (31460156)
<NET-ASSETS> 6236967781
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 0
<INTEREST-INCOME> 440296258
<OTHER-INCOME> 31621103
<EXPENSES-NET> (79249614)
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 392667747
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> 442960
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> (25147243)
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 367963464
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> (390215999)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 178438954
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> (59908078)
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 20996830
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> 1370183603
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 2874542
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> (8035851)
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> 52313966
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 0
<GROSS-EXPENSE> 79249614
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS> 5591692301
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 10.002
<PER-SHARE-NII> 0.701
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC> (0.042)
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> (0.698)
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS> 0.000
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL> 0.000
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END> 9.963
<EXPENSE-RATIO> 1.42
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING> 0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 0
</TABLE>