The Parents' Confidential Statement (PCS) is the instrument used by the College Scholarship Service (CSS) to assess a student's financial needs. The form is designed to collect information about a family's income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. Post-secondary institutions using the PCS instruct aid candidates to forward the completed form to the CSS for analysis. Following evaluation of the PCS, the CSS estimates the family's financial need according to standards established by member colleges and universities. A statement and report are then sent to the institution or scholarship agency designated by the candidate. As a result of processing PCSs, the CSS gathers a large body of data about student financial aid candidates. Annual summary statistics, a by-product of the processing system, are prepared so that the CSS staff can evaluate and refine the needs analysis system. The summary statistics also provide insight into demographic and economic changes in the national CSS population, and enable college personnel to compare characteristics of their financial aid candidates with those of the national population. (JS)