Need advice on a credential evaluation service

We've had a student apply to our program using an evaluation from a credential evaluation service, which states in part the student's "work experience has been reviewed by a professor at a regionally accredited university in the U.S. who is qualified to evaluate employment responsibilities. He finds" [the applicant] "to be qualified for employment at an entry-level job requiring a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration." [...] "Therefore," [the applicant] "for the purposes of employment, has the equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts in Business administration with a major in marketing awarded by a regionally accredited university in the U.S."

This may well be permissible for the purposes of employment, but we are going to have to decline the student's application for our master's program for lack of an earned RA bachelor's degree. I've not been aware of such a credential evaluation service previously and am left wondering how widespread these are. The service does not claim direct affiliation with any other organization, but states the "evaluation conforms with the placement recommendations approved by the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials and published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and NAFSA: Association of International Educators." The evaluator claims active membership in both these organizations.

(We're going to refer the applicant to the schools where she might be able to obtain a degree based on portfolio examination of life experience as well as to the degree in 4 weeks website.)

Is this a variation on the LTW scenario or a legitimate service honored by HR personnel?

Thanks for any insights.

 

I am not an "HR" person. But I have hired and fired. I cannot imagine a response any different than you are making. If I had a position that required the bachelor I would refer the applicant to a school that could evaluate her credentials *and* confer a recognized degree. If I felt the rule was bendable, I might look at her background myself and see if she would fit the position...I would do that whether or not the degree was required anyway. But I wouldn't take any "evaluation service's" word for it.

 

Hi Nicole. While I don't have any specialist knowledge in this area, to my layman's eye this has a funny smell. (Oww, I twisted my metaphor.)

A problem that I see is that the bottom portion is talking about evaluation of foreign educational credentials, while the top portion is talking about an evaluation of the student's life experience. You have to bring the two ends together somehow, and everyone on Degreeinfo knows that the progression: life experience => credential is a degree-mill red flag.

We know that degree mills exist and that phony accreditors exist. Phony credential evaluators is probably the next step, and an obvious one given that the field is relatively unregulated. I believe that there are several posts back on AED advertising an "evaluator" that promises to turn non-accredited degrees into the equivalent of accredited ones, for a price.

Membership in the evaluator's organizations may or may not mean anything, depending on whether membership is open to anyone who pays the membership fee.

What I would do is contact the AACRAO and the other organizations named and ask for their opinion of this. My bet is that they will be underwhelmed.

That's probably the best way to handle it. If TESC or COSC find this credible (I bet that they won't), then they can give the woman her BA. If they do, then you shouldn't have a problem. The process of turning an evaluation into a bachelors degree isn't your job anyway.

 

- Excelsior College uses EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIAL EVALUATORS, INC. (ECE) services. http://www.regents.edu/is_ece.htm

- U.S Dept of Education view: http://www.ed.gov/NLE/USNEI/us/visitus-forrecog.html

 

Most Universities in the U.S. I was looking for accepted evaluations of foreign degrees and/or university credits made by one of these services:

1. ECE:
http://www.ece.org/

2. WES:
http://www.wes.org/splash.html


I have never heard of evaluating credentials by a single U.S. professor.

Greets,

Trigger,
Germany

 

A piece of trivia: ECE is the evaluator that determined that the Heriot-Watt MBA courses were each equivalent to 0 semester-credits. (WES is reported to have evaluated them at 4 semester-credits per course.)