PAGE  1
000 A000000 09/30/2002
000 C000000 0000888411
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 6.1
000 J000000 A
001 A000000 NUVEEN SELECT TAX-FREE INCOME PORTFOLIO 3
001 B000000 811-6693
001 C000000 3129178200
002 A000000 333 WEST WACKER DRIVE
002 B000000 CHICAGO
002 C000000 IL
002 D010000 60606
002 D020000 1286
003  000000 N
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 NUVEEN INSTITUTIONAL ADVISORY CORP.
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-36793
008 D010001 CHICAGO
008 D020001 IL
008 D030001 60606
008 D040001 1286
011 A000001 DELETE
011 A000002 DELETE
011 A000003 DELETE
011 A000004 DELETE
011 A000005 DELETE
011 A000006 DELETE
011 A000007 DELETE
011 A000008 DELETE
012 A000001 JPMORGAN INVESTOR SERVICES CO.
012 B000001 85-11374
012 C010001 BROOKLYN
      PAGE  2
012 C020001 NY
012 C030001 11245
013 A000001 ERNST & YOUNG
013 B010001 CHICAGO
013 B020001 IL
013 B030001 60611
014 A000001 NUVEEN INVESTMENTS
014 B000001 8-13464
015 A000001 JPMORGAN CHASE BANK
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 BROOKLYN
015 C020001 NY
015 C030001 11245
015 E010001 X
015 A000002 DELETE
015 A000003 BANK OF NEW YORK
015 B000003 S
015 C010003 NEW YORK
015 C020003 NY
015 C030003 10007
015 E010003 X
015 A000004 BANKERS TRUST COMPANY
015 B000004 S
015 C010004 NEW YORK
015 C020004 NY
015 C030004 10015
015 E010004 X
015 A000005 DELETE
015 A000006 DELETE
015 A000007 NATIONSBANK NORTH CAROLINA NA
015 B000007 S
015 C010007 CHARLOTTE
015 C020007 NC
015 C030007 28255
015 E010007 X
018  000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000  135
019 C000000 NUVEENFUND
020 C000001      0
020 C000002      0
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        0
022 A000001 GOLDMAN SACHS
      PAGE  3
022 B000001 13-5108880
022 C000001     13511
022 D000001         0
022 A000002 PIPER JAFFRAY
022 B000002 41-0953246
022 C000002      8945
022 D000002      3945
022 A000003 JPMORGAN
022 B000003 13-3224016
022 C000003      8347
022 D000003      3600
022 A000004 SALOMON SMITH BARNEY
022 B000004 13-1912900
022 C000004      5899
022 D000004         0
022 A000005 BANC ONE
022 B000005 31-1017233
022 C000005      4880
022 D000005         0
022 A000006 NEWMAN & ASSOCIATES
022 B000006 84-0775574
022 C000006      4730
022 D000006         0
022 A000007 BEAR STEARNS
022 B000007 13-3604093
022 C000007      3926
022 D000007         0
022 A000008 LOOP CAPITAL MARKETS
022 B000008 36-4164012
022 C000008      3857
022 D000008         0
022 A000009 BANCAMERICA
022 B000009 94-1687675
022 C000009      2497
022 D000009         0
022 A000010 PRAGER
022 B000010 94-3057440
022 C000010      2223
022 D000010         0
023 C000000      61406
023 D000000      63055
024  000000 N
025 D000001       0
025 D000002       0
025 D000003       0
025 D000004       0
025 D000005       0
025 D000006       0
025 D000007       0
025 D000008       0
026 A000000 N
      PAGE  4
026 B000000 N
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         0
028 A020000         0
028 A030000         0
028 A040000         0
028 B010000         0
028 B020000         0
028 B030000         0
028 B040000         0
028 C010000         0
028 C020000         0
028 C030000         0
028 C040000         0
028 D010000         0
028 D020000         0
028 D030000         0
028 D040000         0
028 E010000         0
028 E020000         0
028 E030000         0
028 E040000         0
028 F010000         0
028 F020000         0
028 F030000         0
028 F040000         0
028 G010000         0
028 G020000         0
028 G030000         0
028 G040000         0
028 H000000         0
030 A000000      0
030 B000000  0.00
030 C000000  0.00
031 A000000      0
031 B000000      0
032  000000      0
033  000000      0
035  000000      0
036 B000000      0
038  000000      0
042 A000000   0
042 B000000   0
042 C000000   0
      PAGE  5
042 D000000   0
042 E000000   0
042 F000000   0
042 G000000   0
042 H000000   0
043  000000      0
044  000000      0
045  000000 Y
046  000000 N
047  000000 Y
048  000000  0.000
048 A010000   125000
048 A020000 0.300
048 B010000   125000
048 B020000 0.288
048 C010000   250000
048 C020000 0.275
048 D010000   500000
048 D020000 0.263
048 E010000  1000000
048 E020000 0.250
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  2000000
048 K020000 0.238
049  000000 N
050  000000 N
051  000000 N
052  000000 N
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 Y
      PAGE  6
054 N000000 N
054 O000000 Y
055 A000000 Y
055 B000000 N
056  000000 N
057  000000 N
058 A000000 N
059  000000 Y
060 A000000 Y
060 B000000 Y
061  000000        0
062 A000000 Y
062 B000000   0.0
062 C000000   0.0
062 D000000   0.0
062 E000000   8.0
062 F000000   0.0
062 G000000   0.0
062 H000000   0.0
062 I000000   0.0
062 J000000   0.0
062 K000000   0.0
062 L000000   0.0
062 M000000   0.0
062 N000000   0.0
062 O000000  89.6
062 P000000   0.0
062 Q000000   0.0
062 R000000   0.0
063 A000000   0
063 B000000  7.3
064 A000000 Y
064 B000000 N
066 A000000 N
067  000000 N
068 A000000 N
068 B000000 N
069  000000 N
070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 N
070 B010000 N
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 Y
070 C020000 N
070 D010000 N
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 Y
070 E020000 N
070 F010000 N
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 Y
      PAGE  7
070 G020000 N
070 H010000 N
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 N
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 Y
070 J020000 N
070 K010000 N
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 N
070 L020000 N
070 M010000 N
070 M020000 N
070 N010000 N
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 Y
070 O020000 N
070 P010000 N
070 P020000 N
070 Q010000 N
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 N
070 R020000 N
071 A000000     38831
071 B000000     55510
071 C000000    174315
071 D000000   22
072 A000000  6
072 B000000     5317
072 C000000        0
072 D000000        0
072 E000000        0
072 F000000      275
072 G000000        0
072 H000000        0
072 I000000       20
072 J000000       28
072 K000000        9
072 L000000       18
072 M000000       13
072 N000000        0
072 O000000        0
072 P000000        0
072 Q000000        0
072 R000000        4
072 S000000        4
072 T000000        0
072 U000000        0
072 V000000        0
072 W000000       38
072 X000000      409
      PAGE  8
072 Y000000        8
072 Z000000     4916
072AA000000     1308
072BB000000        0
072CC010000     1850
072CC020000        0
072DD010000     5134
072DD020000        0
072EE000000        0
073 A010000   0.3960
073 A020000   0.0000
073 B000000   0.0000
073 C000000   0.0000
074 A000000      168
074 B000000        0
074 C000000    15030
074 D000000   168310
074 E000000        0
074 F000000        0
074 G000000        0
074 H000000        0
074 I000000        0
074 J000000     2483
074 K000000        0
074 L000000     2766
074 M000000       44
074 N000000   188801
074 O000000        0
074 P000000       45
074 Q000000        0
074 R010000        0
074 R020000        0
074 R030000        0
074 R040000      978
074 S000000        0
074 T000000   187778
074 U010000    12964
074 U020000        0
074 V010000    14.48
074 V020000     0.00
074 W000000   0.0000
074 X000000     1228
074 Y000000    16543
075 A000000        0
075 B000000   185583
076  000000    14.11
077 A000000 Y
077 Q010000 Y
077 Q030000 Y
078  000000 N
080 C000000        0
      PAGE  9
081 B000000   0
082 B000000        0
083 B000000        0
084 B000000        0
086 A010000      0
086 A020000      0
086 B010000      0
086 B020000      0
086 C010000      0
086 C020000      0
086 D010000      0
086 D020000      0
086 E010000      0
086 E020000      0
086 F010000      0
086 F020000      0
087 A010000 COMMON STOCK
087 A020000 67063X100
087 A030000 NXR
088 A000000 N
088 B000000 N
088 C000000 N
088 D000000 N
SIGNATURE   STEVEN D. FOY
TITLE       VP & CONTROLLER