Secondary Credentials for Freshman Admissions
With the increase in international travel, both domestic and international admissions advisors need a primer to make admissions decisions on international high school credentials. This quick overview will introduce secondary credentials, looking primarily at the British, French, and US influences on secondary education systems throughout the world. Examples will also include the most common credentials from Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Asia, Mexico, and Canada as Texas admissions officers see growing numbers of credentials from those countries and regions. As more students study abroad and as a growing number of international students seek higher education in the United States, all admissions officers require the basic skills and tools to admit freshmen with international high school credentials.
International Transfer Credits 101
The presentation found on this page on international transfer credits is aimed towards new (less than two years) advisors who examine or evaluate foreign university transfer credits or who want to make sense of private evaluation company decisions. Admissions officers, study abroad advisors, community colleges, and recruiters can quickly and easily learn the basics of foreign transfer credits. This session will include important concepts such as determining institutional policies for vocational/technical programs, 3 year degrees, and Advanced/Advanced Subsidiary level transfer credits. Examples will also include the most common credentials from Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Asia, and Mexico as Southwest admissions officers see growing numbers of credentials from those countries and regions. As more students study abroad and as a growing number of international students seek higher education in the United States, all international education officers require the basic skills and tools to understand what to do with international transfer credits.
Advanced Transfer Credits
The presentation found on this page on advanced international transfer credits is aimed towards advisors who examine or evaluate foreign university transfer credits or who want to make sense of private evaluation company decisions. Admissions officers, study abroad advisors, community colleges, and recruiters can quickly and easily learn the basics of these complex foreign transfer credits. This training is the third training in an ongoing series of practical application for working with international credentials. Previous sessions were on Secondary Credentials for Freshman Admissions and International Transfer Credits 101. This training module will focus on more complex international transfer credit issues such
as International Baccalaureate diplomas and certificates, ECTS transfer credits, 5-year programs from Taiwan, specific programs from India, Canadian three-year degrees, German Abitur, French coefficients, and more. As more students study abroad and as a growing number of international students seek higher education in the United States, all international education officers require the basic skills and tools to understand what to do with international transfer credits.
As always, this material represents a work in progress so please feel free to contact me to identify outdated information or new sources. I hope it helps!
I was reviewing your ppt on Advanced Transfer Credits. For the Abitur you mentioned awarding transfer credit of either 6 or 8 credits for each tested subject. How do you determine if it’s 6 or 8?
Also, have you had any experience with the year 13 gymnasium in Austria? Do you think this exam is equivalent to the Abitur?
The information on that powerpoint was from the policy established by the institution I was working for at the time. At my former institution, we generally gave 8 credits for all 4 subjects for a total of 32 credits.
As a private credentials evaluator, I would actually recommend doing things in a slightly different manner. For the two Honours courses/main subjects (generally listed as numbers 1 and 2), there are several schools of thought. Some evaluations agencies recommend giving double the credit for the major subjects than for the minor subjects (so 8 and 4 credits each), much like with the British Advanced and Advanced Subsidiary levels. I have seen other evaluation agencies that grant 9 and 6 credits, respectively, to award exactly 30 credits. Personally, we give 8 credits for the Honours courses and 6 for the minor courses because that’s more in line with the number of credits annually awarded for subjects taken at a US higher education institution while still acknowledging that the major/Honours courses are more in-depth and intensive.
While the Austrian Maturity Certificate can be 13 years, it is more commonly 12 years (except for certain programs that emphasize additional subjects like music or sports), and, by convention, would not be awarded transfer credits. It is a rigorous program of study and examination, and a case could certainly be made to compare it to the German Abitur (especially given that most German states are or have moved to a 12-year system which will definitely mean that those of us giving credit for the 13th year need to examine our policies). There hasn’t been a lot published (in the U.S.) about Austrian education in the last 20 years specific to the field of international education, but that which is available all concurs that the Austrian Maturity Certificate is comparable to completion of secondary school education.