IDOC from Ghana: uploading your aid documents
Upload your family's documents to IDOC, the College Board's document upload service, after you submit the CSS Profile. Its dashboard lists what each university wants, such as payslips, bank statements and non-filer statements, and by when. Upload early, because documents can take about ten business days to process. Check each university first: some, such as Rice, have international students use their own portal instead.
What is IDOC?
IDOC, the College Board's Institutional Documentation Service, is where you upload the documents behind your CSS Profile. The CSS Profile is the aid form most universities that fund international students use. You open IDOC after you submit the Profile.
The Profile collects numbers. IDOC collects the proof: payslips, bank statements, a GRA return or a non-filer statement, an employer's letter. You upload each document once. The College Board then passes it to every IDOC university on your list.
Does every university use IDOC for international students?
No. Many universities that use the CSS Profile also use IDOC, but not all of them use it for international students. Rice has international applicants upload documents through its own applicant portal. Stanford has international families use its own upload page for some items, such as corrections and noncustodial parent waiver requests.
Read each university's aid page for international students, and note where it wants your documents. A document sent to the wrong place has not been sent.
What documents should I gather first?
The full set, in one folder, before IDOC opens. A typical Ghanaian family needs some of the following, depending on how your parents earn:
| What the dashboard asks for | What a Ghanaian family usually uploads |
|---|---|
| Parent tax return | A GRA return, if one was filed for the year |
| Non-filer statement | The signed IDOC international parent non-filer statement, one per parent |
| Proof of income | Payslips, an employer's letter on letterhead, an SSNIT statement |
| Business records | Bank and mobile money statements, a sales and purchase record |
| Other documents a university requests | Whatever is named on the dashboard for that university |
Our checklist of the documents Ghanaian parents need says where each one comes from. If your parents file no tax return, read the CSS Profile when parents file no tax return before anyone signs the non-filer statement.
When can I open IDOC?
After you submit the CSS Profile. Once a university that uses IDOC has your Profile, you usually get access within about a week. The IDOC dashboard then shows you:
- every document each university needs from your family,
- each university's deadline for them,
- what has arrived and what is still missing.
Work from the dashboard. Do not upload documents nobody has asked for, and do not assume one university's list matches another's.
If a document is not ready yet, upload everything else now. Then note on the dashboard which items are still to come.
How do I scan documents without a scanner?
Use your phone and a scanning app, and save each page as a PDF. IDOC accepts PDF, JPG, TIF, GIF, Word and Excel files. Each file must be 9 MB or smaller, and no PDF can be password protected.
Few Ghanaian homes have a scanner, and a phone does the job if you are careful:
- Use a scanning app, not the ordinary camera. Most phones have one in the notes or files app. It flattens the page and saves a PDF.
- Lay the page flat in daylight, on a dark surface, with no shadow across it.
- Check that every page is readable before you upload it, including stamps, signatures and the figures at the edges.
- Split long statements. Twelve months of bank statements can pass 9 MB. Split them into a few files by quarter, named so the order is obvious.
Some forms need a signature, such as the non-filer statement. Print them, sign them by hand, then scan them. If you have no printer at home, a business centre or internet café will print them. On a shared computer, delete your files before you leave. They carry your family's financial details.
How do I upload and label the files?
On the dashboard, choose "Upload documents", select your files and tell IDOC which required document each one is. You can upload as many files as you need.
Name each file plainly before you upload it. "Mother payslips Jan to Jun 2025.pdf" helps you, and everyone after you, more than "IMG_4471.pdf". Keep a list of what you uploaded and when. If a university later says something is missing, that list is your answer.
Upload when the power and the connection are steady. If a large file fails halfway, you may have to send it again. A calm start at home beats a rushed one at the deadline.
How do I know the documents have been accepted?
The dashboard tells you once IDOC has processed them. The College Board says this can take around ten business days. Until then, a document you uploaded may still show as missing.
Check the dashboard a week or so after you upload, and again before each deadline. If something stays outstanding, contact that university's aid office directly. Do the same if a university asks for a document the dashboard does not list. IDOC only passes documents on. The university decides whether it has what it needs.
- Profile submitted
You send the CSS Profile with, or before, each application.
- About a week later
IDOC opens, and the dashboard lists each university's documents and deadlines.
- As soon as you can
Upload everything you have. Do not wait for the last missing document.
- About ten business days after upload
Your documents show as processed on the dashboard.
- Before each deadline
Check the dashboard. Chase anything still outstanding with the university's aid office.
What should I do now?
Make a short note of each university and where it wants documents from international families: IDOC or its own portal. Do it before your Profile goes in. Then put your documents in one folder, so the day IDOC opens is a day for uploading, not searching.
You do not need outside help if the folder is ready. If you would like someone to check each document against your Profile before you upload it, that is part of the Scholarship and Aid Sprint.
Questions people ask
When can I start uploading to IDOC?
After you submit the CSS Profile. Once a university that uses IDOC has your Profile, you usually get access within about a week. The IDOC dashboard then lists what each university needs and its deadline.
What file types and sizes does IDOC accept?
PDF, JPG, TIF, GIF, Word and Excel files, each no larger than 9 MB. Do not password protect your PDFs. Good scans or phone photographs, saved as PDF or JPG, are accepted.
How long does IDOC take to process documents?
About ten business days, the College Board says, before the dashboard shows a document as received. Upload well before each university's deadline, not on the day.
Do all universities use IDOC for international students?
No. Rice has international applicants upload documents through its own applicant portal, and Stanford uses its own upload page for some items. Check each university's aid page to see where it wants documents from international families.
Do Ghanaian documents need translating for IDOC?
Most do not, because they are already in English. If a document is in another language, upload an English translation with it.