BS accreditation from a foreign country

Hi, I obtained my BS in Civil Engineering in Mexico, at the moment I'm living in Illinois, I'm a US Citizen and I wish to work here in the States. I wish to know what are the requirements or how I have to start in order to accredit my BS here?

 

Find a NACES evaluator - their evaluations are official. Two of the best known are WES at World Education Services - International Education Intelligence and and ECE at http://www.ece.org Employers use them. So do colleges and universities.

Here's the whole NACES page so you can see all the members: NACES® - The Standard of Excellence for Credential Evaluation Services It'll be money well-spent. ...And no, I don't work for them... :jester:

The NACES people will evaluate your degree. As to any Professional Association of engineers that you'd have to join, I have no real idea, but I'm sure we have professional engineers in the forum who can tell you all you'll need.

Johann

 

Hi Charlie. I'm not an engineer myself, so maybe some of the others can be of more help to you. Nor am I really sure what you mean by "accredit" your Mexican degree.

If you are talking about its acceptability for professional licensing in Illinois as a Professional Engineer or a Structural Engineer, it looks like a complicated and time consuming process, even for graduates of American universities, especially if the engineering program wasn't accredited by ABET.

See here:

Illinois Engineer (PE) Professional Licensing Guide

The State of Illinois specifies that individuals with foreign engineering degrees must have them evaluated by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). This is apparently the same organization that writes and administers the professional engineering exams.

The people that you really need to be talking to are at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).

Here's their Professional Engineer licensing page:

State of Illinois : Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

And here's their Structural Engineering page:

State of Illinois : Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

 

That's two great posts guys.:fing02:

 

First question: is your Mexican BS degree accredited by ABET? ABET is the primary US accreditor for engineering degrees, but they also accredit engineering degrees at some Mexican universities. If you have an ABET degree, you should make this clear to any prospective employer or licensing board, because it will greatly facilitate acceptance by the US engineering community.

If you don't have an ABET degree, then you should get your degree evaluated by NCEES. If you have an engineering degree and want to use it professionally, then NCEES evaluations are the norm; I wouldn't recommend any other evaluation service. If your degree is ruled to be ABET-equivalent by NCEES, then you should make this clear to any prospective employer or licensing board. If the degree is ruled to have deficiencies, then you should consider taking supplemental classes as necessary.

Legally, you don't need to have an ABET degree or an NCEES evaluation to apply for jobs with US engineering firms. They can hire anybody they like, regardless of degree. So you may be able to find work right now, with your existing degree only. However, the acceptance of your degree will greatly improve if it is accredited by ABET, or if it has been approved as ABET-equivalent by NCEES.

For civil engineering, you will eventually want to get a professional license from the State of Illinois (in addition to a degree). You can't apply for the PE or SE license, until you have several years of work experience. However, you can start the licensing process now by applying for an "Engineer Intern" certificate with IDFPR. IDFPR will probably require an NCEES evaluation of your Mexican degree (unless it was ABET-accredited). If you can pass the NCEES "Fundamentals of Engineering" exam and earn a state "Engineer Intern" certificate, then your degree probably won't matter any more.

 

That's gold you just gave him. Great advice.

Abner :smile: