Frequently Asked Questions

TYPES OF EVALUATION AND THEIR PRICE

Transcript Research offers two types of international credentials evaluations:

Please note that these prices have increased for the first time in nearly a decade as of February 2023.

Basic/General Evaluation - $110

The General Evaluation includes a synopsis of each educational credential and its U.S. equivalency; it is a statement of comparability. It includes the indigenous Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) and identification of the recognition of post-secondary institutions if applicable.

The General Evaluation is most commonly used for immigration purposes and some employment, but it is also used for college/university admissions, generally for those who do not have post-secondary studies. If your intent is educational purposes, check with the receiving institution to find out if they need you to add the US-style GPA option ($40) to your general evaluation.

Detailed/Course-by-Course Evaluation - $200

The Course-by-Course Evaluation includes a synopsis of each educational credential and its U.S. equivalency. It includes the indigenous and U.S. Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) and identification of the recognition of post-secondary institutions. In addition, it includes a list of courses taken at the post-secondary level from each institution attended, along with indigenous grades, recommended U.S. equivalent grades, recommended U.S. credit hours for each course, and total recommended credits. A course-by-course evaluation can also be conducted of high school/secondary school credentials, but it will only include subjects and grades; it will not include credits or Carnegie units. For anyone who has earned at least two years of university-level study, the course-by-course list of subjects and grades will not include secondary/high school education unless specifically requested.

The Course-by-Course Evaluation is most commonly used for further education and some employment.

Your evaluation report will include all official credentials that have been provided for evaluation on a single report. If you need separate evaluation reports for different levels of study, you will need to submit two applications. Please contact us at info@transcriptresearch.com before applying so we can assist you with the process to ensure it goes smoothly.

Please note we have custom applications for applicants to the University of Dallas, the City University of New York (CUNY), the New York University School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS), Baylor College of Medicine, and US-AID. Custom applications typically require official documents.

If you have more than 4 credentials to be evaluated, please be aware that your report may take longer to complete, and we charge an additional fee.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

What type of evaluation should I get? What’s the difference between the General Evaluation and the Course-by-Course Evaluation? What happens if I choose the wrong one?
The General, or Basic, Evaluation includes a list of each academic credential earned as well as a U.S. equivalent. In addition, it includes a Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) and indication about the accreditation/recognition of the institutions awarding the credentials. The Course-by-Course, or Detailed, Evaluation includes all of the above as well as a listing of each course studied, along with the grade on the transcript, a suggested U.S. grade, and suggested credit hours (only for post-secondary study). If you initially apply for a General Evaluation and realize that you really need a Course-by-Course evaluation, you will need to pay the difference of the application fees.

Why do I have to send my official documents? My college/university/employer/attorney/recruiter doesn't need that, and it takes too much time and money.
Transcript Research has just launched a brand new service in February 2023! We are now offering a Provisional Assessment. The Provisional Assessment is a digital evaluation report that includes the same information and the same care that we include in our Official Evaluations, but we make it very clear that it was conducted on the basis of unofficial documents: scans, photocopies, faxes, notary or Apostille document, etc.The Provisional Assessment is conducted on the basis of your unofficial copies or scans of the official, formal academic records. We still cannot accept printouts/screen shots of student records systems or preliminary results from external examinations since those do not represent final documents
The Provisional Assessment will be sent to you electronically and is valid for 1 year from the date of issue. Please note that we cannot combine Official Evaluation and Provisional Assessment for different documents on one report; please choose which option fits your needs best. NOTE: City University of New York (CUNY), NYU School of Professional Studies, University of Dallas, Millersville University, and other institutions with their own unique application form do not accept the Provisional Assessment and will not admit students whose evaluation reports were based on copies or scans, so we must require officials.

What is considered an official document? Do you need my original transcripts? I can’t get another copy of my original. Can you request it from the university? Do you have a request form that I can submit to them? What do you mean you need to verify my documents?
For an Official Evaluation, official documents are generally original/official documents or documents attested by a pre-approved education authority. Notarized documents are not official; we also do not accept the Apostille as official. For most countries, we will require official transcripts/statements of marks/marksheets. However, we understand that in some countries, it is difficult to get another original, so please email us and we can let you know if we can make other arrangements. You can also use our Records Request form to request that original transcripts be sent directly to us at:
Transcript Research
9540 Garland Road, #381, Box 383
Dallas, TX 75218
In some cases, we may need to verify the documents you provide to us. In those situations, we will let you know via email that your application will remain on hold until the verification process is complete. If there are additional fees for the verification, we will let you know that as well.

Instead of mailing your official documents, you may be able to pay to have your post-secondary transcripts and degree (if you graduated) verified by Qualification Check. Qualification Check verifies educational records at 40,000+ education institutions in over 190 countries. Register for free at https://transcriptresearchapplications.qualificationcheck.com/#/login/register?atid=9 to see if they are able to verify your post-secondary documents before you apply. If you use Qualification Check, you will need to upload a PDF of both your transcripts and any degrees or diplomas you earned. Please note that we do not accept Qualification Check for completed post-secondary Chinese qualifications.

You MUST use the Transcript Research portal link for Qualification Check if you choose to use Qualification Check for verification of your documents, or we will be unable to accept the verification since their documentation requirements are different from our policies.
How long will it take to evaluate my documents? How far in advance should I apply for an evaluation? Why is it taking so long?
Credentials evaluations typically take approximately three weeks from the time we receive fees and all required official academic credentials. However, because we cannot guarantee the length of time needed for verification of documents or research for less-common credentials, we suggest that you apply two months in advance of any deadline.
What’s going on with my evaluation? How do I find out the status of my application?
Please send us an email at info@transcriptresearch.com to check on the status of your application, and we will make every effort to respond within 2 business days.

I forgot to include this other school on my application, and now I want to do a new evaluation; what do I need to do? I forgot to include this other school on my evaluation, but the evaluation is not yet done; what do I need to do?
If your application has already been evaluated and the report has already been sent, and you realized that you neglected to provide full disclosure, you will need to submit a re-evaluation application along with your new academic credentials. If your application is still being evaluated, however, we will merely ask that you send an amended Educational History so that we can conduct the evaluation with all necessary information.

If you have more than 4 credentials to be evaluated, please be aware that your report may take longer to complete, and we charge an additional fee.
I had an evaluation done last year to get admitted to my U.S. university, but I was still enrolled in my home country. Do I have to apply all over again to get my new courses evaluated?
If your application has already been evaluated and you are need to have it re-evaluated to include new coursework that was completed after the date on the initial evaluation, then you will need to submit the application form and select a Re-Evaluation. You will pay a reduced fee, but you will still need to complete the entire application form (especially the educational history) and send final, complete academic credentials from your last school attended.

Documentation Questions

Will you keep my documents, or can I have them back? When can I get my documents returned to me? How will you send my documents back to me?
We will return all official academic records that you provided with your application when we send you the completed evaluation as long as you pay for return shipping. Your official academic records will be sent using whatever mail service you choose. Transcript Research uses UPS Ground ($10), UPS Next Day Air Saver ($30) and UPS Worldwide Saver ($70). All documents sent directly to us by the issuing institution will become our property and will not be given to you.

I have a Bachelor/Master/Doctoral degree; do I have to submit my secondary school records? I am applying as a transfer student to a college or university; do I have to submit my secondary school records?
If you already have a post-secondary degree completed, it is generally not necessary to send your secondary school records, but you will still need to complete that information on the application form. If you have completed no post-secondary studies or less than one year of post-secondary studies, you should provide your official secondary school records. For those countries where advanced standing (university credit) *may* be awarded for a 13th year of secondary school, we may ask to have you send those documents to us after all. For anyone who has earned at least two years of university-level study, the course-by-course list of subjects and grades will not include secondary/high school education unless specifically requested (or if those studies are from a 13- or 14-year pre-university system).

I earned a degree/studied/graduated from a school in the U.S. Do I need to send my U.S. transcripts?
Transcript Research does not evaluate U.S. credentials, but we do need you to list all schools and information on your educational history and include a scan of your U.S. studies so that your application for evaluation is not delayed.

I got an email saying my application is on hold because you have sent it for verification; what does that mean and how long will it take? What does it mean that you are authenticating my degree? Why does your requirements list say that I have to have my transcripts sent to you directly from the school/examination body?
Transcript Research does not accept photocopies, scans, or faxes of academic credentials for an Official Evaluation. In addition, we sometimes find that it is necessary to verify or authenticate some of the academic credentials we receive due to a variety of reasons. At other times, we know it will be much faster for you to request official documents to be mailed to us than for us to contact the issuing institution and request a verification. Some verification responses may take as long as six months while others can be resolved in less than a week, depending on the country, level of education, and time of year.

Payment Questions

I can’t get all of my documents. Can I cancel my application and get a refund?
Within 1-2 business days of our receipt of your application, we will send you a status email (provided you indicate an email address on your application). At that point, we will let you know if there are any missing items from your application, including the country-specific requirements for official documents. If, at that time, you realize that you will not be able to provide all of the official documents, you can cancel your application within 5 business days for a 50% refund. Please note that we are now offering a Provisional Assessment for all countries and all levels of study based on unofficial documents so this might be a better answer.
I’m applying to more schools. Can I get additional copies of my evaluation? How long will you keep my application on file?
We will keep a completed application on file for five years. At any time during that five year period, you can order additional copies of an Official Evaluation with shipping to be sent to you (or your designated recipient). After that, we will no longer keep your records, and you will have to reapply. The Provisional Assessment is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. If you have an incomplete application, your records will only be kept for 12 months.

General Questions

Can I scan/fax/email you my documents and have you tell me what it’s equivalent to or if my school is recognized before I apply?
Transcript Research does not determine equivalencies or recognition until we receive an application for evaluation. In order to determine your document equivalencies, you will need to submit the application, application fee, and documents. If you want a Provisional Assessment, we can conduct that on the basis of your unofficial documents. If you want an Official Evaluation, we require your official documents.
How do you determine the basis for your equivalencies? Why did you say my document was equal to such-and-such when this other company said it was equal to something else? Where do you come up with your information?
Transcript Research bases many of its U.S. credential equivalencies on the Comparability and Placement Recommendations published by the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials. Other equivalencies are based on industry-standards, extensive research, and consultation with other professionals in the country of the credentials. You can get more information about our general Evaluation Policies here.

Do you do translations? Do you have recommendations for good translator services? Do you require me to submit an official translation, or can I do my own translation?
Transcript Research does not do translations, but we do require English translations for documents that are not issued in English by the educational institution. Please see our Terms of Service section on translations below for more information about translations from your country.
Will you accept my 3-year Bachelor from India/Australia/Europe/South Africa/other?
Transcript Research has revised our policy on 3-year Bachelor degrees. As of Fall 2022, we generally consider 3-year Bachelor degrees from recognized, degree-granting higher education institutions to be comparable to a 3-year Bachelor degree from countries with 11 or 12 years of primary and secondary education (pre-university) education. However, we do not formally determine equivalencies without conducting an evaluation, which requires an application, application fees, and your documents.

If you have attended upper secondary education in a country where the system requires 13 years of primary, secondary, and pre-university education before enrolling in university, please be sure to check our country requirements because we may recommend transfer credits for part of your pre-university studies (A levels, CAPE certificates, some Abiturs, and others.) For those countries, we have a different policy regarding the equivalency.

Please note that some immigration attorneys may not agree with our interpretations of 3-year Bachelor degrees. If your goal is immigration purposes, we would recommend you consult your immigration attorney before applying for evaluation.

TERMS OF SERVICE

Official Documents/Copies

A Provisional Assessment is conducted on the basis of unofficial documents, while an Official Evaluation can only be completed with official documents based on our country-specific requirements.

Transcript Research will not finalize an Official Evaluation on the basis of photocopies, scans, Apostille, or notarized documents unless they can be verified directly by the issuing institution, examination board, ministry of education, or other relevant agency. Please see our country-specific requirements at http://transcriptresearch.com/requirements/

Please note that we are unable to make exceptions to this requirement on the basis of immigration or citizenship status or for asylees or refugee, though our Provisional Assessment is an option.

Transcript Research is not responsible for requesting transcripts/academic credentials for evaluation. It is the applicant's responsibility to make arrangements to have them sent to us, according to our country-specific requirements and evaluation type.

Official documents sent to us by the applicant will be returned with the completed evaluation if return shipping is paid. Documents sent to us by the issuing institution become our property and will not be returned.

Special note on oversized documents: If you have oversized degrees - documents as big as A3 paper (297 x 420 mm or 11.7 x 16.5 inches) or bigger, please contact us by email before mailing your documents. We charge additional shipping for oversized documents, which is based on the size of your documents and your mailing address, but alternative arrangements may be available so you will need to email us before mailing them.

Transcript Research does not evaluate transcripts/degrees from US institutions, but if you have studied at higher education institutions in the US, you can include photocopies/scans of those records, and we will include general information about those studies in the evaluation.

Verification

We reserve the right to verify all documents. Some Official Evaluations cannot be completed without verification, such as academic records from China, secondary results from Cameroon, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and others. Please see our country-specific requirements at http://transcriptresearch.com/requirements/

All applications are subject to verification, and documents from many countries are sent for verification automatically. Transcript Research attempts to verify all documents submitted for evaluation. If our verification finds that the documents submitted were not valid, we will cancel the application (no refund) and notify the institutions listed on the application. We will also provide this information to the relevant authorities, and we will keep the documents submitted for verification.

Translations

Academic documents issued in a language other than English must be accompanied by an English translation, done either by the educational institution or a government-approved translator, or, if translated in the U.S., by a member of the American Translator's Association. For country-specifics regarding translations, please see: www.transcriptresearch.com/requirements

Transcript Research has a collaborative relationship with Credential Consultants, a corporate member of the American Translator's Association. Details about the process can be found here, and you can apply for a translation at https://cc.credentialconnection.com/Default.aspx?subdomain=tr

We do not accept evaluations from other companies as a translation; we require a literal, word-for-word translation of the entire academic record being evaluated.

Applications We Cannot Accept

There are some evaluation types we are presently unable to evaluate. If you send the following types of educational records, they will be returned to you, and you will be charged for return shipping.

* We no longer conduct evaluations for the followings types of programs on our main application form: medicine, nursing, dental, pharmacy, physical therapy, audiology, medical imaging, or other allied health or health-related programs. Please note that we do not conduct evaluations of hospital-based nursing credentials. You must contact us before applying so we can review your documents and provide the application process. You will also need to provide a copy of the curriculum guide or map, course outline, degree plan, catalog, or other course curriculum structure information. If you have both academic and medical-related programs that need to be evaluated, we require two separate application forms.

* We no longer conduct any evaluations for offshore medical programs (Caribbean and others) unless the program is recognized by CAAM-HP at the time of your enrollment or within five years of your graduation. If you submit an application for an offshore medical program that does not have CAAM-HP accreditation, it will be canceled and partially refunded.

* We no longer conduct evaluations specifically for teacher certification boards or accounting boards.

* We no longer evaluate religious education, Montessori education, vocational studies, or language immersion programs unless conducted at a university or other educational institution recognized by the Ministry of Education or equivalent government educational authority. Typically, these are only available for general equivalency evaluations.

If you have doubts about whether or not we can evaluate your documents, you may email us a scanned copy to ask. However, we will only determine whether or not we can evaluate them as legitimate educational institutions. We do not determine in advance anything about the equivalency, credit recommendations, grading conversions, or whether it is compared to a US regionally accredited education institution since those are the primary purposes of the evaluation.

Evaluation Reports

For anyone who has earned at least two years of university-level study, the course-by-course list of subjects and grades will not include secondary/high school education unless specifically requested. For those course-by-course evaluations that do include secondary/high school studies, we begin with grade nine. While we offer a course-by-course of high school/secondary education records, it will not include credits or Carnegie units, only subjects and grades.

Your evaluation report will include all credentials that have been provided for evaluation or assessment on a single report (assuming you have 4 or fewer credentials or pay the additional fee for more than 4 credentials). Sometimes, however, people may find that they need different reports for different needs. For example, they may need a general equivalency evaluation for their secondary/high school studies for employment but a detailed, course-by-course evaluation of their university-level education. In other situations, people may want to separate their Bachelor and Master studies. If you need separate evaluation reports for different levels of study, you will need to submit two applications. Please contact us at info@transcriptresearch.com before applying so we can assist you with the process to ensure it goes smoothly. By default, all documents at all levels of study (secondary/high school, undergraduate, and post-graduate studies) will be included on a single evaluation report to provide a complete view of your educational background.

Provisional Assessments and Official Evaluation reports are issued electronically by default. For those applicants who also need a print copy of an Official Evaluation for themselves or a third party, Official Evaluations are printed on security paper in a sealed, stamped envelope and sent to the applicant's mailing address unless third party shipping is purchased or an institution-specific application is used. Provisional Assessments are issued electronically only.

In addition, our evaluations are conducted in English for a US audience. We are unable to conduct evaluations for use in other countries or other languages. In addition, we do not include accents, diacritical marks, or other accented characters in our evaluation reports since those characters are not used in the English language, even when listing foreign terminology such as names of institutions, degree names, or names of major fields of study.

When you receive your report, please review it carefully. You have 90 days from the date the evaluation report is issued to raise any questions or concerns about the evaluation report. After that date, no changes will be made to that report; you would have to pay a reinstatement-adjustment fee for us to review your evaluation.

If you would like to have us re-asses the outcome of your evaluation or assessment, within that 90 days, please submit your request in writing (mail or email) so that we can look at the particulars of your request, along with any supporting documents or information that you think will affect the outcome. Within 10 business days, you should receive a final written outcome if we are making changes or not. Please note that there is already extensive research that goes into each of our reports, so unless it is a typographical error, or something unique that your supporting documents reflect, there is no guarantee that changes will be made.

Secondary Leaving Examinations

If you are currently enrolled in secondary/high school education in an educational system that leads to a national/state-wide leaving examination, please contact us before applying so that we may determine if your records can be evaluated at this time. From many such systems, we are unable to complete the evaluation until the leaving examination has been taken and results have been awarded.

Grading Scale/Marking Schemes and Degree Plan/Study Plan/Program Syllabus

Please provide a copy of the grading scale/marking scheme used if it is not posted on your transcripts/academic records. If you did not graduate from the program, please provide a copy of the degree plan/study plan/program syllabus, or expect delays.

Incomplete Applications

Your application cannot be evaluated until all fees are paid and all needed documents and acceptable English translations are received. Standard evaluation processing time takes approximately 3 weeks from the time we receive all fees, documents, and necessary information. We can begin the process on the basis of a fax or scan of your academic records, but we cannot finalize and send the Official Evaluation until we receive your official academic credentials.

Cancellations and Fees

Applications can be canceled with 5 business days for a 50% refund. Otherwise, refunds will not be issued except in cases of over-payment. We will not issue a refund if you are unable to meet the requirements of the application, so it is imperative that you read and understand the country-specific requirements before you submit your application. In particular, you must submit official documents before an Official Evaluation will be issued, though a Provisional Assessment can be completed on the basis of scans. A refund will not be issued if you fail to provide official documents for an Official Evaluation. Please ensure that you check with the intended recipient of your evaluation before you apply.

Fees are subject to change without notice.

Applications are valid for 6 months. After that time, a reinstatement fee is required. Completed Official Evaluations (and electronic copies of the evaluated credentials) will be kept on file for five years, and additional official copies can be ordered within this time frame.

Mailing

If you mail your official documents to us, they will be returned to you when the evaluation is complete if you have paid for shipping. If your official documents are sent to us directly by the educational institution, examination body, professional association, Ministry of Education, or any other educational authority, those documents have been issued to us and will not be released to you. If you choose a Provisional Assessment, please do not mail anything to us, and nothing will be sent to you by mail.

We use United Parcel Service (UPS) for our shipping needs. Please note that we do not return official documents or send completed evaluations via stamped envelopes. We also do not use other courier services/mail processors (FedEx, DHL, LoneStar Overnight, etc.).

Please note that UPS Next Day Air services within the continental US is generally 1-2 days while UPS Ground within the US is generally 3-4 days. International shipping times will vary. We only use UPS Worldwide Saver for international shipments. We do not mail anything by stamped envelope, only with tracking.

Official Evaluation reports are issued electronically by default. For those applicants who also need a print copy for themselves or a third party, Official Evaluations are printed on security paper in a sealed, stamped envelope and sent to the applicant's mailing address unless third party shipping is purchased or an institution-specific application is used. Provisional Assessments are issued electronically only.

When your evaluation is completed, we will return documents that you have mailed to us unless they are confirmed fraudulent. We will send you an email at the end of the day with the tracking information from the United Parcel Service (UPS) when we mail the documents and evaluation. Once your label is printed, we are no longer in possession of your documents. On rare occasions, packages do get mis-delivered. Please direct all tracking issues and questions to UPS. If you do not receive your package within 2 weeks, please contact UPS immediately with the tracking number so they can research the issue and locate your package.