CSS Profile documents: a checklist for Ghanaian parents
For the CSS Profile, you need a full year of income evidence, such as payslips, an employer's letter or business records, plus twelve months of bank and mobile money statements. You also need a record of what your family owns and owes, and receipts for large costs such as school fees. Ask for the slow items first, the employer's letter and the bank statements. The university will later check what you typed against them.
What documents do I need for the CSS Profile?
Four groups: proof of your year's income, your bank and mobile money statements, a record of what your family owns and owes, and receipts for large household costs. Within those groups sit ten kinds of document, listed below.
The CSS Profile is the aid form most US universities that fund international students use. The College Board's own document list is built around American tax forms. This page turns it into the documents a family in Ghana holds.
You do not upload anything while you fill in the Profile. It asks only for figures. But most universities that use it then ask for documents through IDOC, the College Board's document upload service. They check what you upload against what you typed. So gather the documents first, and take your figures from them.
The table shows where you get each document in Ghana and roughly how long it takes. The slow ones are in bold, so request those first.
| Document | Where to get it in Ghana | Time to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Payslips for 2025 | Employer's HR or accounts office. Government workers can download them from the Controller and Accountant-General's Department e-payslip service | Days |
| Employer's letter stating 2025 gross pay | HR, a head of department or head of school, on letterhead, signed and stamped | One to three weeks |
| SSNIT statement of account | SSNIT portal, the SSNIT app, *711*9#, or any branch with a Ghana Card | Same day to a few days |
| GRA return or Tax Clearance Certificate, if one exists | GRA Taxpayers' Portal, using the Ghana Card number as the TIN | Varies |
| Bank statements, twelve months, every account | Banking app download, or an official stamped statement from the branch | Days to two weeks for stamped copies |
| MTN MoMo statements, twelve months | MyMTN app, *170#, or MTN's online statement portal. Up to 90 days per request | Minutes, but four requests |
| Business records, for a self-employed parent | The family's own sales and purchase records, plus the statements above | Weeks to assemble |
| Loan statements | The lending bank, savings and loans company or credit union | Days |
| School fees receipts for other children | The schools | Days |
| Large medical bills not covered by NHIS | Hospital or pharmacy receipts | Days |
Keep everything in one folder, paper and digital, labelled by parent. If both parents earn, each of you needs your own set of income documents.
Which year do the documents need to cover?
January to December 2025, for a student starting university in 2027. The 2027-28 CSS Profile looks back to the "prior-prior" year. Ghana's tax year runs on the calendar year, so the two line up.
Your figures come from two different dates. Income and expenses cover the whole of 2025. Balances, such as what is in the bank or what a loan has left to run, are taken on the day you fill in the form.
How do I prove income without an American tax return?
With the documents your income already produces. If you earn a salary, that means your payslips, your employer's letter and your SSNIT statement. The SSNIT statement shows the contributions your employer reported in your name, so it backs up your salary independently.
If you are self-employed, your bank and MoMo statements carry most of the weight, alongside a record of what your business bought and sold. Our guide to the CSS Profile for self-employed parents works through it in detail. If you have never filed a tax return, read the CSS Profile when parents file no tax return before you sign a non-filer statement.
Do we need mobile money statements too?
Yes, if MoMo is where your money moves, as it is for many Ghanaian families. The Profile asks about the cash your family holds, and a MoMo wallet holds cash. A trader's takings, a relative's contribution, a salary moved off the bank account on payday: all of it shows on your MoMo statement.
MTN's statement service caps each request at 90 days, so a year needs four requests. Make them on the same day so the dates join up without a gap. Save each file with the months in its name. If you use a Telecel or AirtelTigo wallet, get the same from that network.
What counts as an asset, and what do we owe?
Your cash and savings, your home, other property, investments and any business, each set against what you still owe on it. For most Ghanaian households, that means:
- Cash and savings: every bank, savings and loans, and MoMo balance on the day you file.
- Your family home, if you own it: what it would sell for today, and anything still owed on it.
- Other property: a second house, a plot, rented-out rooms or a shop.
- Investments: treasury bills, shares, fixed deposits, a susu scheme with a balance.
- A business, if you are self-employed: covered in the self-employed guide.
If you own property with others, the College Board's guidance is to report only your family's share. Family land held with your siblings or by an extended family raises its own questions. Our guide to land and property on the CSS Profile covers them.
Who counts in our household?
Your child, you as parents, and any other children you provide more than half the support for. Anyone else counts only if they live with you and you provide more than half their support, under the College Board's household rules.
This is narrower than a Ghanaian idea of family. A grandmother who lives with you and depends on you counts. A cousin in the village whose school fees you pay does not, because she does not live in your household.
That support is still real money. Use the Profile's explanation section to say who you support, how much a year, and why. An aid officer cannot account for what nobody mentions.
When should we start?
In early September, about three weeks before the Profile opens on 1 October. The employer's letter and stamped bank statements take longest. Many universities set their Early Decision aid deadlines in the first half of November.
- Early September
Request the employer's letter and any stamped bank statements. These take longest.
- Mid-September
Download your payslips, your SSNIT statement and four MoMo statements. Gather loan statements and school fees receipts.
- Late September
Write down what your family owns and owes, with the documents for each.
- 1 October
The Profile opens. Fill in the money sections together, from the folder.
- 1 to 15 November
Early Decision and Early Action aid deadlines at many universities. IDOC usually opens about a week after you submit.
What should I do first?
Ask for your employer's letter this week. It is the one document that depends on someone else's diary. You can gather everything else on the list in an afternoon or two.
This checklist is everything a careful family needs to do it alone. If you would like someone to go through the folder with you and build the Profile figures from it, that is what the Scholarship and Aid Sprint does.
Questions people ask
Which year's documents do Ghanaian parents need for the 2027-28 CSS Profile?
2025. The 2027-28 Profile, for students starting university in 2027, asks about 2025 income. Gather payslips, statements and receipts from January to December 2025. Add your current bank and savings balances on the day you fill in the form.
How do I get a full year of MTN MoMo statements?
Request them through MTN Ghana's statement service, using the MyMTN app, *170# or the online statement portal. MTN sends each statement by email. Each request covers up to 90 days, so a full year takes four requests. Make them all at once and save the files together.
Do relatives we support count in our household on the CSS Profile?
Only if they live with you and you provide more than half of their support, under the College Board's household rules. A niece whose school fees you pay but who lives with her own parents does not count. You can explain that support in the Profile's explanation section.
Should the parent or the student fill in the CSS Profile?
Both. Your child usually creates the account. You should enter or check every figure in the income and asset sections, with your documents open. The university later collects those documents through IDOC, and figures typed from memory are the ones that fail to match.