European degree - transcripts evaluation

[AniaJ 0]

Hi all,

To find a better job I need to have my Polish teaching degree evaluated by a member of NACES. Their website lists several companies offering this kind of service: http://www.naces.org/members.html

Does anyone have any experience with these companies? Did your eveluation work to your advantage?

I know this is just the first step and I'm sure I will have more questions soon. I don't expect it to be an easy process but I really have to face it. Thank you very much for your help.

[perfect 39]

.....not a degree, but when my son moved here from the UK I used it to evaluate his high school exam results (which were very good and in the top percentages of students in the UK) - the service said in their estimation he hadn't even graduated high school and refunded the fee I paid after I complained that this was not possible!! I was not impressed at all!

[Inshallah2011 1]

www.ece.org

They are helpful and will get you what you need.

Thanks.

Hi all,

To find a better job I need to have my Polish teaching degree evaluated by a member of NACES. Their website lists several companies offering this kind of service: http://www.naces.org/members.html

Does anyone have any experience with these companies? Did your eveluation work to your advantage?

I know this is just the first step and I'm sure I will have more questions soon. I don't expect it to be an easy process but I really have to face it. Thank you very much for your help.

[PabloGarcia 36]

Were using ECE.org for pharmacy transcript evaluation. Kind of a pain in the ### because everything needs to be sealed but what are you going to do!?

[AniaJ 0]

@perfect - I'm sorry to hear the evaluation didn't help. at least you tried! I hope now your son has a U.S. diploma and you don't have to worry!

@Inshallah2011 - thanks so much for the answer. They were also my first choice - I got a hopeful feeling reasing their website :-)

@PabloGarcia - thanks! you just confirmed the choice glad it worked for you! I know it will be hard to get done (considering the fact that my college does not exist anymore!) but I just can't start my education from scratch having 2 higher education degrees! Fingers crossed... and prayers.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hi all,

To find a better job I need to have my Polish teaching degree evaluated by a member of NACES. Their website lists several companies offering this kind of service: http://www.naces.org/members.html

Does anyone have any experience with these companies? Did your eveluation work to your advantage?

I know this is just the first step and I'm sure I will have more questions soon. I don't expect it to be an easy process but I really have to face it. Thank you very much for your help.

Assuming you have actually checked and find out that you need that evaluation by a prospective employer.

In some states all you need to prove is that you have a bachelors degree to become a teacher (high school), after taking a program that often is a year long and you coul dteach while in the program.

If it is to teach in a higher education private/state college (for example TV-I/UNM, I see you are in Alb), it might be possible that you need that evaluation, but I'd chekc first (which is possible you have, but in that case, often they have a preferred/designated evaluator)

If you are planning on going to college for an advanced degree, you might not need that evaluation.

I do have foreign degrees and never had to evaluate anything, however, I also have US degrees and that could be a factor in not needing those evaluations - I was never asked to do an eval , and never told why would I not need one

[AniaJ 0]

Thank you @Gosia & Tito for your feedback. It looks like each state has its own requirements, each university has its own approach and in the end it's up to our employer to recognize a foreign degree or not...

In my field (teacher) getting this evaluation is a must. I cannot move forward without it here in New Mexico and starting from the beginning is not an option. I was told one of the things I need is a course-by-course evaluation done by one of the members of NACES. I am checking their requirements...Some companies want transcripts in sealed envelopes, some accept copies but want certified translations...I have a lot of reading to do!

I'm glad you didn't have to go through all this and congrats on your U.S. degree! A.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Thank you @Gosia & Tito for your feedback. It looks like each state has its own requirements, each university has its own approach and in the end it's up to our employer to recognize a foreign degree or not...

In my field (teacher) getting this evaluation is a must. I cannot move forward without it here in New Mexico and starting from the beginning is not an option. I was told one of the things I need is a course-by-course evaluation done by one of the members of NACES. I am checking their requirements...Some companies want transcripts in sealed envelopes, some accept copies but want certified translations...I have a lot of reading to do!

I'm glad you didn't have to go through all this and congrats on your U.S. degree! A.

From : http://www.ped.state.nm.us/Licensure/2010/FAQs/Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20072710%20_2_.pdf

Option 2 – Reciprocity

Possess a bachelor’s and/or a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college

or university; possess a current valid and standard certificate/license from another

state or country; provide proof of having completed an approved teacher education

program (if the program is not contained on a transcript, you must provide

documented evidence of the program you completed); provide proof of passage of

a teacher competency exam for that out-of-state/country certificate or license, and

provide evidence of having satisfactorily taught under that out-of-state certificate

or license from the school and/or supervisor where you taught.

I'd check if your college in Poland has an aagreement with a US instituion that could help use this clause, and of course, assuming you have a license or certificate in Poland (which your degree would)

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Thank you @Gosia & Tito for your feedback. It looks like each state has its own requirements, each university has its own approach and in the end it's up to our employer to recognize a foreign degree or not...

In my field (teacher) getting this evaluation is a must. I cannot move forward without it here in New Mexico and starting from the beginning is not an option. I was told one of the things I need is a course-by-course evaluation done by one of the members of NACES. I am checking their requirements...Some companies want transcripts in sealed envelopes, some accept copies but want certified translations...I have a lot of reading to do!

I'm glad you didn't have to go through all this and congrats on your U.S. degree! A.

Also, I've read a bit about the evaluation and talked to someone who has done (several years ago) and all they are trying to do is define that the course load in hours/credits you have is equivalent to what it would be in the US; if it is or exceeds (which I believe for a European degree it often is) then you are good; if it is not, you would be asked to complete the hours required with course work that would not be really starting from the beginning.

You can probably do a self evaluation to see where you stand before submitting your transcripts to the evaluation site, by looking at some of the certification courses also listed in the NM Public Education Dept, and follow thru any of the colleges who does the degree, which would have published the entire degree curricula with the corresponding hours and description of the course itself, you can also obtain the description of your own degree courses from the syllabus you had (yes, probably you don't anymore, but can still go to your college site and reach to a friend/colleague to get recent descriptions).

If anything, the foot work you do before hand can help you appeal in case the evaluation outfit does not properly evaluate. All they are going to do is exactly what I described; they are just going to compare course descriptions and/or course syllabus, the risk here is that if your degree is a few years old, the syllabus of a given course today might not be how you took it, which might or might not be in your favor.

Good luck

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Also, I've read a bit about the evaluation and talked to someone who has done (several years ago) and all they are trying to do is define that the course load in hours/credits you have is equivalent to what it would be in the US; if it is or exceeds (which I believe for a European degree it often is) then you are good; if it is not, you would be asked to complete the hours required with course work that would not be really starting from the beginning.

You can probably do a self evaluation to see where you stand before submitting your transcripts to the evaluation site, by looking at some of the certification courses also listed in the NM Public Education Dept, and follow thru any of the colleges who does the degree, which would have published the entire degree curricula with the corresponding hours and description of the course itself, you can also obtain the description of your own degree courses from the syllabus you had (yes, probably you don't anymore, but can still go to your college site and reach to a friend/colleague to get recent descriptions).

If anything, the foot work you do before hand can help you appeal in case the evaluation outfit does not properly evaluate. All they are going to do is exactly what I described; they are just going to compare course descriptions and/or course syllabus, the risk here is that if your degree is a few years old, the syllabus of a given course today might not be how you took it, which might or might not be in your favor.

You see, A lot of the procedures and processes in the US are just a matter of being able to checkmark the items in a list or requirements; and it is highly possible to find alternative ways to comply with the checkmark, even when those alternative ways are not specifically listed in the procedure.

Good luck

[AniaJ 0]

Thank you again Gosia & Tito for your help and for taking your time to write back. It's really nice to get some support :-) So far I've only found one friend in NM who had this evaluation done - she did it when she was still in Poland and she hired a lawer. I will be going for reciprocity. Once I succceed I will come back here with an update, just in case anyone else will be looking for the info. Na razie, Ania

[Piefre 15]

I teach for a college here in the US. They validated my degree with an agency and they paid it for it themselves. I hold a Canadian degree and it was validated and given equivalency to a degree in the US. What they needed from me were official transcripts to be sent from my college to their evaluators. It was a two week wait. After that, I got a letter in the mail letting me know the results. The letter stated that they had looked all my courses, my credit hours and my degree and granted me equivalency for all of it.

I haven't tried to find work for a non-post-secondary institution but so long as your credit hours and degree are the equivalent required credit hours in the US, you should not have any issues. It's still nerve-wracking though, so best of luck.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Piefre

[AniaJ 0]

Thank you all. It took a lot of courage to let go my documents (nothing was lost!) and I just love my evaluation report. It was so worth the efford & money.

[AniaJ 0]

Oops! I meant * effort *