Credential evaluation

Credential evaluation is the way in which academic and professional degrees earned in one country are compared to those earned in another. Universities, colleges and employers around the world use credential evaluations to understand foreign education and to judge applicants for admission or employment.

Immigrants can use credential evaluations to gain recognition for study completed outside the country they are immigrating to and in doing so join the workforce as skilled immigrants.International students use credential evaluations to present their previous coursework and grades to universities anywhere for admission.

Credential Evaluation in the United States

Universities and colleges in the United States saw a marked increase in the number of international students applying for admission after World War II when many European countries were recovering from the war.The need for an accurate and fair understanding of students’ educational past emerged and became even more important as the number of international students studying in the United States jumped from 25,000 in the years after the war, according to NAFSA. There were over 866,000 international students studying in the United States in 2013 to 2014.

As universities face declining public financial support and the pressure to keep tuition affordable, academic institutions have relied on international students to offset the rising cost of higher education. The majority of international students in the United States are from China, India and South Korea. However, there has been a large and steady growth in the number of international students from Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and Nigeria.

There is no federal (national) government agency that oversees credential evaluations in the United States. There are professional associations such as Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE) and National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) that create and maintain ethical standards in the field though they are not governing agencies and membership by credential evaluators is voluntary. However, credential evaluators must meet certain criteria to belong to AICE and NACES. Universities and colleges also evaluate credentials themselves.

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Wikipedia