Document Submission & Imaging

This page lists the various types of documents you will be asked to submit as part of the financial aid application process, and provides important details on how to submit these materials. Please read and follow the directions on this page so that we get all your information as quickly and as efficiently as possible. 

FAFSA, Need Access and HLS Secure Web Forms

• Links to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the Need Access Application, and all HLS required web forms can be found on the Financial Aid Forms page accessed via the link on the right hand navigation bar of this page. 
• For FAFSA and Need Access, you (and your parents if required for the Need Access only) will submit data to these external processors, and the data will then be sent to HLS provided you list Harvard Law School as a data recipient. 
• For all of our HLS web forms, your data will be encrypted and transmitted securely via https directly to our database upon submission. Our forms will require you to login using  your HLS username and password (as described on the forms page). Your data will be matched to your records based on the login information provided when authenticating to each form.

Federal Tax Documentation & Any Other Miscellaneous Documents that you may be required to send us in hard copy format

• All hard copy documents will be imaged and loaded to our document imaging system (CampusDocs) upon receipt. 
• When submitting any required tax data (1040, 1065,1120,1120S, W2s, Schedules, K1s, etc.) or any other type of information in hard copy, we require you to include a type-written cover sheet. This cover sheet can be found at the top of the financial aid forms page. It should be completed electronically. Once completed you can print it out and attach it to the first page of the packet of documents you are preparing to submit. It is important that you complete the cover sheet accurately as the information you provide on the cover sheet will be used to match your submitted document(s) to the student's/applicant's electronic record.
• Follow the instructions on the cover sheet carefully. 
  • You should use one cover sheet for each document type. In other words if you are submitting a 1040 and 1120S you should use two different cover sheets so you can individually identify the document you are submitting. 
  • If you are submitting business tax forms for multiple business, each business should get its own cover sheet so you can clearly list the business Federal Tax ID distinctly for each business on separate cover sheets.
  • You can lump all parts of one main item under one cover sheet. For example, with the 1040 cover sheet you can include the main form, all schedules, W2s and statements. The only time you need a new cover sheet for a component of a document is if you are turning it in separately from the main form. The same is true for any business return submissions. 
  • If the item you are submitting is not a tax return, you can choose Other Non-Tax Document as your document type on the cover sheet. 
• Once you are ready to submit your documents and have completed all of the necessary cover sheets, please follow the instructions below under Preferred Method of Document Submission.

HLS Writable PDF's

• All "writable" PDF forms found on the financial aid forms page and should be completed electronically. In other words, you should open the PDF and fill it out electronically, then print a copy to submit.
• It is particularly important that you fill out the critical identification information in the box at the top of each of these PDF forms, as that information will be used to match your submitted document to the student's/applicant's electronic record. 
• It is not necessary to use a cover sheet when submitting any of our "writable" PDF Forms
• Once you are ready to submit your documents and have completed all of the necessary cover sheets, please follow the instructions below under Preferred Method of Document Submission.

Preferred Method of Document Submission

• Once you have your materials ready for submission and/or you have completed all of the necessary cover sheets,  you should submit them to our office using one of our STRONGLY PREFERRED methods of transmission.
  • Fax to 617-496-5453.  
  • Bring documents into our office in person and use our self-service scan station.
• Although we still accept document submissions via email and regular mail, this is strongly discouraged as fax and the self service scanner are the more secure forms of submission and will be processed more quickly.
• Submitting documents via fax or self service scanner eliminates the need for us to manually scan your documents into our document imaging system. This reduces the time it takes for us to prepare your application and allows us to devote more resources to processing your award and providing you with more individualized attention throughout the entire process.
• Your cooperation with this important information is greatly appreciated!