Indian Degree Evaluation in USA: 5 Key Things to Know

09/07/2023

Coming from India with an advanced degree, you wanted to achieve your American Dream and settle in the US like others do. There are some chances that you may be asked to have your India degree evaluated in USA, although you probably have never heard of it before.

It’s always a good idea to consult a trusted credential evaluation agency before the process, but this article will first give you some hands-on information for your Indian degree evaluation in USA.

Continue reading for the 5 key things you need to know.

1. What’s a degree evaluation?

Degree Evaluation, aka Education Credential Evaluation or Foreign Credential Evaluation, is a service provided by professional evaluation agencies to evaluate educational backgrounds, test scores, professional experiences, etc. obtained outside the United States.

It mainly includes 2 types of evaluations:

Foreign Degree Evaluation (Diploma Evaluation/Document by Document)
Transcript Evaluation (Course by Course)

with the purpose of making your foreign degree equivalent to an US degree or educational equivalency evaluation for H1B and other immigration purposes.

For more information, click “What is Foreign Credential Evaluation?”

2. What documents are needed for an Indian degree evaluation?

Based on the standards of foreign credential evaluation, you may need to submit the following for your foreign credential evaluation:

Degree Certificate
Translated degree certificate by a certified translator
Transcripts
Translated transcripts by a certified translator (required if doing Transcript Evaluation)

3. What results should be expected for your Indian degree evaluation?

Typically, if you have a master’s degree or a doctoral degree from India evaluated, you’ll most likely get the same degree title as a US equivalency. However, if you’re evaluating a bachelor’s degree, it can be tricky. Here are two possible outcomes:

3-Year Undergraduate Program

An equivalent of 3 years of an undergraduate study in the US.

In general, the length of an Indian bachelor’s degree is 3 years. Indian education system famously has a 10+2+3 scheme, meaning 10 years of first stage schooling (take a secondary school certificate exam) + 2 years of second stage schooling (high school certificate exam) + 3 years of bachelor’s degree study. Unlike a 4-year US undergraduate study, this 3-year degree can only be equivalent to 3 years of an undergraduate study here in the US.

Therefore, if you’re only evaluating your 3-year Indian bachelor’s degree, be aware of the above equivalency result. As a solution, you can do a post-graduate diploma program after high school or have a master’s degree in India. That way, your degree evaluation can equal to a 4-year bachelor’s degree in the US and give you a degree title instead of “three years of undergraduate study.”

Learn more about 3-year Indian bachelor’s degree:
3-Year Indian Bachelor’s Degree and Indian or Foreign 3-Year Degree Evaluation in USA

4-Year Undergraduate Program

An equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in the US.

There are 4-year undergrduate programs in Engineering and Technology, although 3-year programs are common in India.

Your Indian degree will be most likely equivalent to a US bachelor's degree, if your major was in:

Electrical and Electric Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Computer Science and Engineering
Other Bachelor of Engineering or Bachelor of Technology related majors

Please note, a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) or a 4-year undergraduate study in Nursing will also most likely be the same equivalency in the US.

Besides that, more universities in India are signing up for 4-year undergraduate programs.

4. What can you use your Indian degree evaluation for?

1) Look for jobs

In this case, your employer may ask you to show an academic equivalency evaluationn report, in order to give you a job offer. They don’t want to mistaken the valuable education background you have gotten and you also want to show them that your education is the same as those who have degrees here in the US.

(Use Credential Evaluation for Employment)

For example, “high school diploma” is an American term for secondary education and it actually has various names in other countries, such as “bachiller” in Latin America and WASSCE (West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination) in West Africa. And it is the minimum educational requirement for lots of employers in this country.

Overall, to have your education evaluated is important because it will provide you the equal opportunities as Americans have.

Go to “Credential Evaluation for Employment” for more information.

2) Apply for immigration

When you are applying for an immigration visa, a non-immigration visa like H1B, or a green card, USCIS mostly will want you to demonstrate your educational background, such as diplomas, degrees, and transcripts. If you only have a degree from your home country, then USCIS may ask you to provide an USCIS approved education evaluation to showcase you have an equivalency of a US degree.

(Use Credential Evaluation for Immigration)

For instance, an H1b visa requires you to have at least a US bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. An USCIS approved education evaluation can provide evidence that you either have a U.S bachelor’s degree or that your foreign degree is equivalent to a particular U.S degree.

Overall, to have your education evaluated is important because it will provide you the equal opportunities as Americans have.

Go to “Education Evaluation for H1B” or "Education Credential Evaluation for Immigration" for more information.

3) Apply for school

With the help of educational equivalency evaluation, school admission will easily understand your academic achievement from your home country.

Take your advanced degree as an example; credentials in this are called bachelor’s or master’s degrees in the US. Same as different names for high school diploma, Licentiate, Magister, Benke or Zhuanke are all used to represent post-secondary education in other countries.

(Use Credential Evaluation for Education)

For this reason, you may have to use an education credential evaluation to show the university that you have had an equivalence to meet the academic requirements for admission.

Go to “Credential Evaluation for Education” for more information.

5. Where to evaluate your Indian degree?

(Where to evaluate Indian degrees on Quora)

People often ask where to evaluate their foreign degrees in the US. For employment and immigration, the short answer is you can go to any credential evaluation agency that you feel comfortable with.

According to USCIS, “In cases involving foreign degrees, officers may favorably consider a credentials evaluation performed by an independent credentials evaluator who has provided a credible, logical, and well-documented case for such an equivalency determination that is based solely on the noncitizen’s foreign degree(s)”

However, for education purposes, some schools do have requirements regarding who can evaluate your foreign degree. Therefore, ask the school or a credential evaluation agency to keep everything in hand before starting the evaluation process.

Click to see 5 best credential evaluation agencies for you to consider.

(Testimonials of AET)

Conclusion

India has a different education system from the US. That’s why this article tried to explain some potential evaluation results for your Indian degree evaluation in USA.

Now, you know 3 years of a bachelor’s degree may generally be equivalent to 3 years of an undergraduate study in the US, and you at least also know what to expect while having your degree evaluated by a credential evaluation agency. This is the main purpose of this article.

We touched on some ways of making your Indian degree evaluation equivalent to a 4-years undergraduate study in the US: do a post-graduate diploma or have a master’s degree in India.

At the end, we hope this article can help and give you some insights on your India degree evaluation in USA to apply for jobs, immigration, or school.

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