Thread: Are UNISA (University of South Africa) honours degrees recognised in Australia?

Hi all,

I'm about to enroll for an honours degree in psychology through UNISA (South Africa) not to be confused with uniSA (University of South Australia). I would like to enroll for a masters degree program at an Australian university after that.

Does anyone know whether Australian universities or psychology boards accept/recognise post-grad psych degrees from UNISA?

I've been finding it hard to get a clear answer online.

Any information or experience would be greatly appreciated!

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Originally Posted by jcastelyn

Hi all,

I'm about to enroll for an honours degree in psychology through UNISA (South Africa) not to be confused with uniSA (University of South Australia). I would like to enroll for a masters degree program at an Australian university after that.

Does anyone know whether Australian universities or psychology boards accept/recognise post-grad psych degrees from UNISA?

I've been finding it hard to get a clear answer online.

Any information or experience would be greatly appreciated!

I am a little confused since you said you would enroll in the Masters at an Aussie school. In any case, UNISA is a well recognized university that was granted a Royal Charter in the 1800's IIRC. The thing to do is to check what the policy is on foreign credentials and that would be a question for the school if you were entering the Masters or the Psych board in the case of credentialing. We had someone post here that a US state would accept and MSW from India for licensure. You will not be the first one to ask that question by a long shot.

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	Psychology Degrees Psychology Degrees Psychologists study mental processes and human behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people and animals relate to one another and the environment. To do this, psychologists often look for patterns that will help them understand and predict behavior using scientific methods, principles, or procedures to test their ideas. Through such research studies, psychologists have learned much that can help increase understanding between individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, nations, and cultures. •Job opportunities are naturally best for individuals with higher degrees. Individuals with a doctoral degree are highly sought after, especially ones who holds degrees in a particularly in-demand subfield, such as health; those with a master’s degree will have good prospects in the corporate environment; bachelor’s degree holders will have limited prospects due to steep competition. •Employment growth will vary by specialty; for example, clinical, counseling, and school psychologists will have 11% growth; industrial-organizational psychologists will have 26% growth; and 14% growth is expected for all other fields of psychology. Click Here to find FREE information on schools offering this course of study.

My impression is that the majority of schools do not want to get locked into hypothetical scenarios where they are committing themselves to a course of action. Many schools will simply say something like, "When you submit your application and transcripts they will be assessed just as all other applications are assessed.

I would contact this body:
APAC - Australian Psychology Accreditation Council : APAC Standards & Guidelines

They assess the qualifications for the Psych.Board of Australia. The way you are going is "left field" to Australian bureaucracies. They generally are highly structured and not change orientated. I would also bear in mind that they are "protectionist" and how you approach them may be important.

A university is more likely to accept you for a research degree in psychology than a coursework degree leading to registration without some form of recognition from APAC. I may well be wrong (frequently am), but, in this country, I have found that people who you would think are flexible in their thinking are anything but. Mind you the costs of the UNISA degree make the information well worthwhile checking.

I would also examine Social work as it appears to have mlore flexibility.

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	Psychology Degrees Psychology Degrees Psychologists study mental processes and human behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people and animals relate to one another and the environment. To do this, psychologists often look for patterns that will help them understand and predict behavior using scientific methods, principles, or procedures to test their ideas. Through such research studies, psychologists have learned much that can help increase understanding between individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, nations, and cultures. •Job opportunities are naturally best for individuals with higher degrees. Individuals with a doctoral degree are highly sought after, especially ones who holds degrees in a particularly in-demand subfield, such as health; those with a master’s degree will have good prospects in the corporate environment; bachelor’s degree holders will have limited prospects due to steep competition. •Employment growth will vary by specialty; for example, clinical, counseling, and school psychologists will have 11% growth; industrial-organizational psychologists will have 26% growth; and 14% growth is expected for all other fields of psychology. Click Here to find FREE information on schools offering this course of study.

I find that other countries tend to be more accepting of foreign credit/foreign diplomas. It is the US that is saying only US schools.

Originally Posted by iamthere

I find that other countries tend to be more accepting of foreign credit/foreign diplomas. It is the US that is saying only US schools.

Except that U.S. schools and other institutions don't actually say that.