INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF STUDIES, DIPLOMAS, AND DEGREES AS SEEN FROM AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

The aim of this article is to describe the sources of information on foreign education systems and credentials by means of which the various higher education institutions of the United States reach decisions as to the admission of foreign students and the granting of equivalences for degrees earned abroad. The information is derived from a number of sources, particularly from such national volunteer and professional associations as the American Association of Collegiate Registrars (AACRAO) including a linkage which it maintains with the Agency for International Development (AID), the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials (The Council), the National [Association of Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA), the National Liaison Committee on Foreign Student Admissions (NLC), and the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). The article further explains how each of these organizations reaches decisions as to the value of given foreign credentials and makes its judgments and recommendations known to those who, in general, need this information, and to specific institutions which request specific information for specific purposes. In the final analysis, the organizations in question are purely advisory; the specific decisions with regard to specific students enrolled in specific higher education institutions are the sole purview of the institutions in question.