TECHNICAL
OFFICE FOR CREDENTIAL EVALUATION
Credential
Evaluation Services
Credential evaluation services provide objective evaluations
of the US equivalents of foreign education and work credentials.
For example, a credential evaluation service would indicate
that the Spanish word bachiller corresponds to a US high
school diploma, even though the literal translation is bachelor.
Fees for the evaluation of US education credentials tend
to range from $50 to $250 per document, depending on the
amount of detail required and the speed of response. Some
companies will also translate the documents. Others will
require that the documents be accompanied by English translations.
There may be extra fees (typically $20 to $50 per page)
for document translation services. The student is responsible
for paying for the credential evaluation and translation
fees.
All I.A.U. students who want to receive credit for courses
taken at an international college or university must submit
the required documents to an approved credential evaluation
service. This process ensures that students have access
to a fair and accurate assessment of the credentials by
experienced evaluators. The following guidelines have been
set for international credential evaluations at InterAmerican
University:
-It
is the students' responsibility to initiate the evaluation
process with the evaluation service. Please be aware that
these services will charge a fee to the student. Please
contact them to verify the current fee amount.
- After the evaluation service receives all of the required
documents from the student, they will submit an evaluation
report to I.A.U. with their recommendations for academic
credit.
- I.A.U. will apply credit from the evaluation report according
to the student's major. In some cases the college may require
course descriptions or other additional information provided
by the student's international college or university.
-I.A.U. reserves the right to interpret the evaluation report
and to determine I.A.U.'s course equivalencies. Some courses
such as English 101, for example do not have equivalencies
at international universities.
-Any questions about this process should be directed to
the international admissions coordinator.
Application Procedures
In order to receive an evaluation, an applicant must provide
the following:
1. APPLICATION FORM
The Application for Evaluation of Foreign Credentials, completed
and signed by the applicant.
2.
FEE
A non-refundable evaluation fee in U.S. dollars. Make the
bank check or money order payable to InterAmerican University.
All evaluation fees, including fees for rush report, 24
hour report, grade point average equivalent, extra copies,
and translation are NON-REFUNDABLE.
3. EDUCATIONAL DOCUMENTS
A. Official Diplomas and Certificates in the original language.
B. Official transcripts in the original language (names
of courses, grades, and hours of instruction) for every
year of study.
4.
TRANSLATIONS
Documents in a language other than English must be accompanied
by professional, certified English translations. Translations
supplement, but do not replace the original documents.
5. SYLLABUS
Syllabus of university study (description of each course
or subject studied): This may be required for a Course-by-Course
Evaluation. Do not send this with your application.
PROCESSING INFORMATION
Processing Information: I.A.U. reserves the right to request
to review original documents and may insist that transcripts
or examination results be sent directly by the issuing institutions
or examination boards. For engineering and physical therapy
licensure: transcript, degree, and course descriptions must
be sent by the issuing institution(s) directly to I.A.U.
The documents you submit with your application, with the
exception of any originals, will become the property of
the University and they will not be returned. Applicants
must submit self-addressed and stamped envelopes for the
return of their original academic credentials. When it has
been determined that the documents submitted for evaluation
or translation were forged or altered in any way, no evaluation
or translation will be prepared and the evaluation or translation
fee will not be refunded. All recipients indicated on the
application form will be notified. If the application for
evaluation of foreign credentials arrives incomplete, I.A.U.
will request the missing information. If the application
is not completed within three months, I.A.U. will close
the file. A new evaluation fee will be required for updating
the file. I.A.U. will keep applications for academic credentials
for one year only.
TYPES OF EVALUATIONS
1. Document-by-Document
This
evaluation names and describes all diplomas, certificates,
degrees, periods of education or training and gives U.S.
equivalencies for each. This report is appropriate for freshman
or graduate admission, for immigration purposes, for military
enlistment and for employment.
2.
Course-by-Course
This
evaluation provides the same information as the document-by-document
evaluation, but also gives course, grade, and credit equivalents
in U.S. terms for university level study in other countries.
This type of evaluation is usually required for transfer
into a U.S. college or university. It is required for CPA
examination, teacher certification, licensing or membership
in professional associations (Physical Therapy Engineering
requires a different kind of evaluation.) Applicants requesting
the course-by-course evaluation whose academic credentials
are not equivalent to university level study in the United
States will receive a document-by-document evaluation and
a $40 refund.
PROCESSING TIME
Standard Processing Time - Evaluations are normally prepared
in ten working days, upon receipt of all required fees,
information and documentation. Evaluations which require
extensive research and correspondence may take longer to
prepare.
