If you’re in the thick of the college financial aid process, you may be required to submit your financial forms via IDOC, a document collection service used by colleges and universities across the country. IDOC is an acronym for the Institutional Documentation Service, and its function is to collect financial forms, including tax returns, W-2s, and 1099s, from families applying for financial aid. IDOC is only used by colleges that require the CSS Profile, and only some of those schools actually use the service.

Managed by College Board^®, IDOC serves as a middleman, gathering tax documents (at no charge to families) and then sending the images electronically to colleges and universities. Schools then use the data from the submitted documents, along with the information reported on the financial aid applications, to determine each student’s eligibility for financial aid.

How to Upload Documents to IDOC

Students who need to submit documents to IDOC will receive an email notification with a link to the IDOC site from College Board. Many will also be notified of the requirement on their Profile Dashboard. Students will need to sign in to the IDOC website and then fill in the requested information and upload the required tax forms in JPEG, TIFF, or PDF format. They may also opt to print a cover sheet and submit documents via U.S. Mail, FedEx, or UPS.

Documents and Information Required by IDOC

The IDOC website notifies students of the specific documents required, the status of documents already submitted, and all deadlines. Keep in mind that IDOC accepts documents for both the current and upcoming academic years, so ensure you select the appropriate choice. Students applying for financial aid for next academic year should select that year, not this current year.

Students will be asked questions about their household members within the IDOC website. This information helps College Board match the documents to the student’s record, and may also be required to complete school-specific financial aid forms.

Many colleges and universities use IDOC within their financial aid process, though only those schools that have made IDOC requests will receive a family’s submitted documents. There is no fee to use IDOC.

More Information about IDOC

Keep in mind that after you upload your documents to IDOC, you may receive an automated email from College Board multiple times letting you know that they have not yet received your requested documents. Though College Board could very well have received your documents, you may continue to receive this email until the colleges (not College Board) have actually processed the documents on their end. To be certain you’ve submitted everything necessary, call IDOC Customer Service at 866-897-9881.

For a full tutorial on IDOC, visit the College Board site here. You can also find additional information on a Frequently Asked Questions page after logging in to the site. If you’d like to ask a question about IDOC, you can reach IDOC Customer Service by calling 866-897-9881 or by emailing [email protected].