Non-US Credential Evaluation Query

What is the best credential evaluation service (or the top 2 or 3 if there are several) for those living in the USA with earned graduate degrees from non-USA institutions?

 

I used World Education Services and Educational Credential Evaluators seem to be very popular too, although I know there are more. If this is for a school then find out which companies they accept reports from. If it is for employment I would probably go with whichever is cheapest.

 

That's a hard question -- because I don't know what you mean by "best." Most generous with its evaluation? I dunno - there is some variance apparently -- but a good degree is a good degree all over. Respected? Yes - all of them. Cost? You can readily see on their sites.

The valid services are all listed here for you. NACES members and also there's AACRAO. The ones I hear about most (presumably because they're popular) are WES and ECE. I assume the others are all fine too - members of the same association.

NACES® Members

AACRAO International Education Services: Evaluations

Johann

 

Even within the same evaluation agency, you can have variation depending on the person who is doing the evaluation. You are essentially paying someone to give you their opinion of your degree. Ridiculous really, but in the US, you are usually stuck using one of these agencies.

I've used WES and IERF in the past for my EBS MBA. Both gave me similar evaluations. I've heard horror stories about ECE. It costs more money, but to save time and aggravation down the road, I would order an evaluation from at least 2 different companies, and go with the one that is most favorable.

 

The only other one I know is SAQA but I think they only become involved if you're applying to a South African university.

-- South African Qualifications Authority --

 

Thanks for the feedback, I will research these options. I've never used an evaluation service before and wanted the best option in terms of cost and reputation of the evaluating agency.

 

True. Among its other functions, SAQA evaluates foreign credentials for use (employment or further study) in South Africa. Here's the SAQA evaluation page.

-- South African Qualifications Authority --

Johann

 

I just contacted IERF for information. Did you have any problems with them?

It looks like they are requesting original transcripts and diplomas? I understand official transcripts, but did you have to send them your actual diploma?

 

The only research I'm aware of in this matter is the small study I did a while ago with a colleague who had a diverse array of credentials: the Heriot-Watt University MBA, a good degree from Guyana, two Canadian accounting credentials, etc. He got evaluations from ten services. While there was much similarity, there were some glaring differences. As an example, six of the services said his MBA was equivalent to a regionally-accredited US MBA, three said it was equivalent to a Master's degree but not necessarily an MBA, and one (ECE) said it was below the level of a US Bachelor's degree. (The university complained vigorously, but to no avail.) When I reported this finding in my book, it produced a fair number of comparable complaints. These are unsettling data. As a result (at that time, anyway), Excelsior waived its requirement that one use only ECE). There is surely need for further research, and the suggestion that if one is not satisfied with one evaluator, another should be tried.

 

Yes, I did. They seem to be pretty thorough. I also had to send my actual diploma to Japanese Immigration when I applied for a work visa, so I didn't think this was that unusual. I can't remember if WES asked for them also.

 

You had no problem getting the diploma back?

 

I had passed courses in the UK. When I applied to Excelsior (some time ago) they required that I had my UK academic credentials (all engineering and math) evaluated by ECE.

When I sumitted them I compiled them into a report that included transcripts from two colleges, course descriptions, number of hours per course, and list of text books (which I still have and use). I felt the number of hours was important since courses were nine months in length (Sep through May or June) x 3 hours per week per course.

I felt the ECE evaluation was fair.

 

Trustforte

Does anyone have experience with TRUSTFORTE in Manhattan NY? They are a member of AACRAO.