The College Board's Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC) collects documents from financial aid applicants on behalf of Brown’s Office of Financial Aid. The Office of Financial Aid uses these documents to verify information on financial aid applications (CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE and/or Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and to understand the financial circumstances of families. The College Board notifies Brown financial aid applicants when and how to submit the required documents. Once the College Board receives required documents, digital files containing student/family documents are transmitted securely to the Brown University Office of Financial Aid.

When students apply to multiple schools that use IDOC, only one submission of the family’s financial supporting documents to IDOC is needed. Separate submissions for each school are not needed.

IDOC’s submission requirements for financial aid applicants vary and a listing of all possible submission requirements for each student applicant appears in the IDOC portal after the student logs in. Additional requirements through IDOC may include:

• Federal income tax returns for custodial parents (or non-tax filer statement) 
• Federal income tax returns for student (or non-tax filer statement) 
• Federal income tax returns for noncustodial parent, if applicable (or non-tax filer statement)
• Federal income tax returns for partnerships and/or corporations, if applicable

Uploading to IDOC

• The student should upload documents through the IDOC web portal, or print a cover sheet from the IDOC portal and mail them as instructed.
• If a student does not receive an email notification from IDOC about a listed requirement, contact us at financial_aid@brown.edu for instructions.
• Only one submission should be made to IDOC. Gather all required documents, and upload or mail them all at one time. (To submit additional information after the initial submission, upload as PDFs to Banner Self-Service using these instructions for uploading.
• Students who have separated/divorced parents should have only one submission on behalf of each parent.

The student’s Financial Aid Requirements in Banner Self-Service will be updated within 10-12 business days after the upload to show IDOC requirements as satisfied. If Brown seeks any requirements that were not submitted to IDOC, they are listed as requirements after our initial review. Note: Until your previous year tax return requirements have been fully submitted to IDOC, your IDOC requirement is not considered complete.)

The Office of Financial Aid notifies students via email if additional information is needed.  If an incoming applicant has already submitted to IDOC for another school, Brown simply downloads the IDOC data at that time. (Note: Brown does not require an IDOC packet from every family; IDOC packets are requested when needed.)

For more about the IDOC submission process, including frequently asked questions, sign in to the IDOC website, or contact the College Board directly at 305-420-3670.