Submitting Required Documents

Understandably, many families have questions on how to best submit the documentation that many schools require as part of the financial aid process. Our goal is to make the process of submitting documents as easy as possible so we’ve put together some tips to help you in the process.

As a first step, we suggest you view the documents required by the schools you are applying to. They can be found in the Family Portal, under the “My Documents” tab. Please keep the following in mind as you go through the process:

Your list of required documents is immediately visible upon completing your PFS.

If you know the school(s) you are applying to requires documents but they are not listed on the “My Documents” page, please contact us at sss@communitybrands.com. This indicates SSS needs to alert the school(s) where you’re applying so they can enter their document requirements into the system.

There’s a difference between you uploading your documents and your school receiving them.

If you upload documents online, they will be available on the My Documents page within 5 minutes of your upload. You may need to refresh the My Documents page or log back into the application in order to see the upload. It’s important to note, however, a distinction between uploading your documents and fulfilling your requirements. SSS is required to review the docs, verify their authenticity, and label them for our use. This process typically takes up to 3 business days.

Only upload your documents once.

Please be careful not to upload your documents more than once. Good news! If you are submitting a 1040 “bundle” (like Turbo Tax and other tax preparation services provide) and it includes images of your W-2(s) along with your supporting tax schedules, you do not have to upload your W-2 document(s) separately. Our system will find the W-2s with all your other tax documents and process them accordingly. If you are concerned that your upload was not successful, refresh the My Documents page or log back into the application to verify whether or not your document label appears in the correct Required Documents section.

The time it takes to verify your documentation will not make your submission late.

While there is a time lag between when you upload your documents and when the system recognizes them as “received,” the good news is that will not adversely affect your application’s timeliness. All documents will be stamped with the date they were received for processing. As an example if you upload your documents the day before your application deadline, they will be time stamped on that day. The system will not show them as “received” for up to another 72 hours, but that does not mean that they will be considered late. It’s the date you upload them, not the date the system recognizes them, that will determine if your application was completed on time.

Turn off your pop-up blocker.

Our document upload wizard uses pop-up functionality. Families should always turn their Pop-Up Blocker off when working in our system.

Upload Documents

Uploading required documents in the SSS Family Portal is a secure and easy process. After paying for and submitting your Parents’ Financial Statement, you will gain access to the “My Documents” tab in your portal. Here, you can view the list of required documents for your selected school(s) and their deadline dates, upload your files, and track documents you’ve submitted and those still outstanding.  

Before uploading: 

  • Cross out any Social Security Numbers or bank account numbers.  
  • Remove any passwords. We cannot process password-protected documents. 
  • Confirm the file type and size for each document. The system accepts just about every file type (i.e. PDF, JPG, TIF, GIF, etc.) 10MB and under.  

Steps for uploading documents via the “My Documents” tab: 

  • Select the purple “Upload” button to the right of the document type name on your list. 
  • In the “Add Document” window, verify you are about to upload the correct document type and year (example, 1040 or W-2) by clicking “Next.” 
  • Use the “Browse” button to select the file your file to upload from your local machine. Click “Save.” 
  • Upon successfully uploading, a clock icon will show in the Status column indicating the document upload is pending until you refresh or log out and back in. 
  • When the green check mark icon appears, the document is available for your school to view. Some tax documents go through a verification process that can take up to two business days complete. However, the document will be available to the schools listed on your application. 

Look for additional information about uploading documents on your portal’s  “My Documents” tab. 

Tips for Decreasing File Size

It’s important to note that the system can only accept documents under 10.0 megabytes in size. Here are some tips for ensuring that your documents do not exceed the 10.0 MB limit:

To avoid exceeding the document file size limit, follow these two simple but important steps:

  • Scan your documents in black and white. Even if your document includes color, it is not necessary to scan your documents in color. Color scans will ultimately result in much larger file sizes than functionally equivalent black and white scans.
  • Scan your documents using 200 dpi (dots per inch). Anything lower may result in poor quality of the document image.