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This paper presents an overview of the assessment of student financial need. After tracing the development of the concept of financial need as it relates to student aid and the various procedures that have been used to determine financial need, the issues related to need assessment are examined. Research on the problems involved in the collection of financial information is reviewed in an attempt to idntify the most reliable items and procedures. In addition, the procedures used to analyze individual financial needs are examined, the steps involved in the development of a need analysis model are pointed out, the data used to construct the stazdards agaiast which the financial situations of individual families are evaluated, as well as the differences in the analysis of incomes and assets that exist. The final section discusses current problems in need assessment, including its relationship to available aggregate financial aid, the appropriate living standard to be incorporated into the need analysis model, the different effects of "absolute " and "relative " financial need, and the effects of changing economic conditions on the ability of parents to pay for higher education and the consequent financial need of students. (Author/AF)-$41AVALWirl,104