Credential evaluation for foreign diplomas: how it works
A translation says what your diploma says. An evaluation says what it is worth in US terms. Most applicants need both, in that order.
Updated September 13, 2026 · 5 min read
In short
- Translation and evaluation are two different services from two different providers.
- Evaluation agencies compare your qualification to a US equivalent — a translator never does that.
- Most agencies want a certified translation alongside the original documents.
- Check which agency your university, board or employer accepts before you order anything.
The difference in one line
A certified translation renders your diploma and transcript in English, exactly as issued. A credential evaluation is an opinion from an evaluation agency about what your qualification corresponds to in the US education system — for example, that a five-year Armenian specialist degree is comparable to a US bachelor’s degree.
Translators do not assess equivalence, and evaluators do not certify translations. Anyone offering to “translate your degree into a US GPA” is describing evaluation, not translation.
Who accepts which agency
There is no single official evaluator. Universities, licensing boards and employers each publish a list of agencies they accept, most often members of NACES or AICE — WES, ECE and SpanTran are among the commonly named ones.
Start from the requirements page of the institution you are applying to. Ordering an evaluation from an agency your target school does not accept is an expensive and slow mistake.
What to prepare
Requirements differ by agency, but the usual set is:
- Your diploma or degree certificate
- Your academic transcript, every page, including the grading scale
- A certified English translation of both
- Sometimes an academic record sent directly by the issuing institution
Why transcripts are the hard part
Transcripts are tables of course titles, hours and grades, often with abbreviations and a grading key in small print. A translation that flattens the table into prose, or that renders course titles loosely, makes the evaluator’s job harder and can slow the whole process down.
We keep the structure of the original, translate course titles precisely, and leave grades exactly as issued so the evaluator can convert them.
Typical order of operations
- Confirm which evaluation agency the school, board or employer accepts
- Collect your diploma and full transcript, plus an apostille if the agency asks for one
- Get a certified translation of everything
- Submit both the originals and translations to the agency
Sources
General information, not legal advice. Requirements change and vary by office — confirm with the agency receiving your documents.
