In the world, there are about 195 countries, out of which only 53 countries uphold English as their official language (even when English might not be the most spoken language there). Many countries have English as their second language; some have a third or even fourth. However, the desire to strive for education remains the common element. In a bid to better their state of being, people migrate to different countries, even continents. The US, with its well-known educational system, is one such country that reels in international students from different parts of the world. Undeniably, the US is one of the biggest, most fascinating demonstration of diversities and different cultures there could ever be. However, the diversity of applicants and the education systems in which they studied require credential evaluation to bring them to a common ground.
This is where the role of credential evaluators become integral. They work on a well-developed ethical standard in the foreign educational evaluation field, serving people who have completed part of all of their education outside of the US and who are seeking further education (or even employment or professional licensure in the US). There isn’t any government agency that specifically monitors these foreign credential evaluation services, and therefore, most of them are affiliated, recognized, or certified with various associations and boards. This affiliation is important because it indicates the quality of work achieved by a credential evaluation service and an assurance that it will perform reliable foreign credential evaluations. Keep in mind that a large number of universities have their own credential evaluation department that conducts their own evaluation individually. These universities may not accept any foreign degree evaluation conducted by evaluators other than their own, irrespective of whether they are part of a recognized association or not.
Selecting the best foreign transcript evaluation service is no different from selecting other professional service providers. It is important to address certain questions before selecting an appropriate credential evaluation agency:
- Is the credential evaluation agency associated with any of the following?
- AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers)
- AEA (American Evaluation Association)
- AICE (Association of International Credential Evaluators)
- AMIDEAST (America-Mideast Educational and Training Services)
- ATA (American Translation Association)
- EAIE (European Association of International Education)
- NACES (National Association of Credential Evaluation Services)
- NAFSA (Association of International Educators)
- Does the evaluator provide the type of credential evaluation required for the documents and/or the pertaining course?
- Are the credential evaluation reports presented in a format mandatory for the intended purpose?
- How competitive are the fees for these credential evaluation reports?
- What is the time taken for these credential evaluation reports on average? Does the agency have any kind of emergency/rush policies?
- Does the credential evaluation agency has an efficient and quick setup for addressing the queries of the customers?
- Is the credential evaluator able to offer authentic reviews/references? How reliable or good are these?
- How long does the credential evaluation agency store their records?
- Can more copies of the credential evaluation be obtained from the evaluator is required in the future, and what is the process of acquiring the same?
- How long has the credential evaluation in the business?
- Is there any refund policy in case withdrawal from the evaluation application is requested?
- After placement, can the type of evaluation request still be changed? What kind of penalties imply?
- What policies does the credential evaluation agency have to deal with disputes?
In today’s day and age, the internet has made this process a lot easier as the majority of the credential evaluation agencies offer a list of credential evaluators affiliated with them on their website. In addition, the websites of these credential evaluation agencies are quite comprehensive, detailing what is necessary for selecting the right credential evaluator.
