Foreign Education

[dhyatt 0]

Ok so the situation is my Wife has her degree in Chemical Engineering within the Philippines. We are looking into getting her degree transfered to be efficient/Used in the United States. I am wondering how we would go at making her degree eligible ?

[K and L 27]

It varies by state and by how much experience she has, and whether or not she's licensed in the PI.

NCEES would be a great resource - they link to the licensing boards for all of the states, and each state's licensing board delineates how foreign (and non-ABET) trained engineers can be licensed and what not.

If she's newly graduated, going through an education validation thing is a good idea, but if she wants to practice here, she may end up having to spend an additional year in college.

Edited March 14, 2010 by K and L

[zenaxe 22]

I had the same issue when I was looking at work in the USA and needed my degree assessed for foreighn equivalency.

You can contact Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) and they will do the equivalency assessment. You would have to contact the university or place where the education took place and they have to send the transcripts to ECE sealed. The institution can't send you the transcripts and you forward them on. This is not allowed. There was a fee for me of $85 US to have it done. You will get a copy and you are able to send a copy to another party if you wish ie employers etc (original documents).

Here's the link to ECE. Have a read and contact them if you have any questions. I found them very helpful.

http://www.ece.org/

Good luck.

Edited March 14, 2010 by zenaxe

[K and L 27]

Also, she will probably have to sit for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and possibly the P&P if she's licensed - I know Canada and most European countries don't have problems with licensing here, but I don't know if a PI license will transfer, and almost all states I've looked at (as potential places to live post MSci/PhD) require passing the FE to sit for the P&P. Even if she wasn't licensed in the PI and her degree's considered equivalent, it's a good idea to sit for the FE while she can't work just to give future employers a better feel for her skill level.

[Old Dominion 26]

There is no reliable system to have her CE credential, or any other degree, validated everywhere in the U.S. Each state has its own licensing standards and procedures. Each potential employer will evaluate her credential on its own terms, if a license is not required for a particular job opening.

[dhyatt 0]

Thanks you, we will give those methods a try. I heard that she had to take a course on college English ?

[AKteacher 103]

Hi Everybody,

My fiancee has a BA degree in Elementary Education and wants to teach here in the US. Does anybody know how easily a teaching degree/license from the Philippines will transfer to the US? I assume she'll have to take some extra classes, maybe go through another teacher preparation/accreditation program?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[sojen 0]

Hi Everybody,

My fiancee has a BA degree in Elementary Education and wants to teach here in the US. Does anybody know how easily a teaching degree/license from the Philippines will transfer to the US? I assume she'll have to take some extra classes, maybe go through another teacher preparation/accreditation program?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

It really depends which state you belong, because the requirements varies. Like with my friend she has a degree in education in PI and a licensed one too. She had her transcript evaluated and all she needs to do is to take the TEOFL exam, she doesn't need to take classes.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Ok so the situation is my Wife has her degree in Chemical Engineering within the Philippines. We are looking into getting her degree transfered to be efficient/Used in the United States. I am wondering how we would go at making her degree eligible ?

Get copies of her diploma(s) and education transcripts. Translate them as required to English. Send them to ECE. (google ECE) and they will do an accredited evaluation accepted at any US college or licensing board of the US equivilency of her education. Cost is $135 for a "course by course" evaluation which is what is most often needed.

Alla's Ukrainian education and degrees were accepted entirely and given full credit. She DID need to take some remedial classes in order to get a US teaching certificate in our state. This will vary by state/other jusridiction. She did not have some classes in Ukraine she needed for a Vermont teaching certificate, but her degree was accepted at "face value".

[Badgerella 5]

Here's the link to ECE. Have a read and contact them if you have any questions. I found them very helpful.

http://www.ece.org/

Uh.

I am currently in the process of getting my foreign (Croatian) degree evaluated and I have to admit I find ECE the worst business I have dealt with in the US so far. I have tried emailing them three or four times and so far I have gotten absolutely no useful information. All they know is how to link you to their website which in and of itself was the reason I had to write to them in the first place.

The information they have for my country (again, Croatia) and regarding the documents I need to submit is rather senseless and unclear, yet nobody at that agency feels that they should clarify the matter and help me, you know, find out what I am supposed to submit. For my money, of course. They are not paying me to have the evaluation issued.

Unfortunately, the grad school I plan to apply for requires the documents to be prepared by ECE so, at least at this moment, I have no other option but to, likely, waste my time and money sending documents back and forth.

I really truly am disgusted by this agency.

[psycons12 0]

Ok so the situation is my Wife has her degree in Chemical Engineering within the Philippines. We are looking into getting her degree transfered to be efficient/Used in the United States. I am wondering how we would go at making her degree eligible ?

Hello to you,

I and my fiancee disscuss about it already,i will give you some insights but of course considering it varries from states to states,

Im a registered pharmacist here in the Philippines,what i did after my thorough disscussion with my fiancee , is browse NABP,National board of pharamacy website in the internet but seems to complex to understand,so what i did is called up my university if they happen to know ,how it is done to be elligible pharmacist in the US.Lucky to talk to my dean about it and she said the requirement is a Board passer from your country at least garnering a score of 80 ,then at least a 5 yr curriculum,since in the Philippines it is only 4 yrs i need to continue a 1 yr course there and so i am elligible to take the board exam and after the internship required before i'l be a US liscensed pharmacist...

I'l suggest she will inquire in her university and try to browse also website for those handling foreign exam for CE..

God bless and goodluck...

[VanessaTony 3,567]

** moving from "K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures" to "Moving Here and your new life in America" as this isn't an AOS related qn and is instead about live after immigration**

[zenaxe 22]

There is no reliable system to have her CE credential, or any other degree, validated everywhere in the U.S. Each state has its own licensing standards and procedures. Each potential employer will evaluate her credential on its own terms, if a license is not required for a particular job opening.

It depends on what is required. If she needs her degree assessed to see if it is equivalent of the USA degree then, ECE and others can readily do that. This is done by the issuing university sending sealed transcripts to ECE or whichever, and they review all of your courses etc. Most accredited universities don't have problems. Degree equivalency assessments are fairly accurate and aren't done on a state by state basis. Either the foreign degree meets US standards or it does not.

Licensing is another matter.

[K and L 27]

Ok so the situation is my Wife has her degree in Chemical Engineering within the Philippines. We are looking into getting her degree transfered to be efficient/Used in the United States. I am wondering how we would go at making her degree eligible ?

I've looked into it a little more. It looks like NCEES is probably the best place to get accreditation in the US. They do offer degree evaluation. It does cost $400, HOWEVER, unlike the other places linked, NCEES is a national professional organization dedicated to engineering education. They're the ones who design, develops, and administers the national engineering exams (the FE and the P&P). If she plans on licensure, she will probably need a NCEES evaluation. If they find the evaluation to be sufficient, she's golden. If it's not, to practise as an engineer in the US, she will need to find the deficiencies (and possibly be re-evaluated by ECE) and spend (probably) one year at a US university to get a US degree.

It ultimately depends on what your state engineering licensing board requires. Mine does require a NCEES evaluation and won't take any other evaluation.

Edited March 15, 2010 by K and L