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“Thank you for your follow-up message regarding the evaluation of your study in Uruguay.   Basically one of the most universally accepted principles of best practice in US international credential evaluation is the concept that one year of full time study overseas is worth one year of full time study in the US.  That means, that no matter how many credits are awarded overseas (if a credit system is used and that is certainly not always the case) or how many classroom hours are spent in class, the annual equivalent US semester hour total will not exceed the standard US model of 30 semester hours per year.   What this means is that regardless of the amount of class time spent, and in Russia for example at GREAT DEAL of time is spent in class, the equivalent amount awarded by the evaluator will not exceed the US standard model.   So that Russian degree that contains hundreds of class hours per year will not result in twice as much credit for that year than a US student would earn in the same time frame.   So the Russian is not going to get twice as many credits for his year of study (say 60 hours) as the US student will get in that same year (30 hours).   Another feature of the Carnegie unit system used in the USA is that for every hour of lecture spent IN CLASS, two hours of outside preparation are expected.   So that 3 hour course results in 9 hours of outcomes time but the US student only gets 3 hours on his transcript record.   In your situation, FCSA assigned the appropriate amount of credit for the official length of the program.

Thank you again for your message to FCSA.”

“Thank you for your message to FCSA regarding the evaluation of your studies in Russia.  In that you expressed concern that the report did not indicate an equivalent outcome of a US bachelor’s.  In fact teacher training at that time was conducted in the pedagogical schools, either Pedagogicheskie Uchilishcha or Pedagogicheskie Tekhniky.   The latter were for teachers of vocational subjects so you attended an uchilishche.  Students entered these programs either with full high school graduation and their Attestat o srednom (Polnom) Obchem Obrazovanii OR they could enter after 9^th Grade and the Certificate of Basic General Education (Attestat ob osnovnom Obschem Obrazovanii).  If they had completed high school then the program was only 2-2.5 years in length.  If they had NOT finished complete secondary education then the program was 4 or more years in length and contained the secondary school subjects absent from their prior secondary education as a result of leaving early.  You did the longer program.  Just before you entered the uchilishche Russian added the Bakalavr to the educational system that was shorter (four years) than the former first degree (Diploma of Specialist) which was five years.  FCSA certainly considers the four year Bakalavr comparable to a US bachelor’s and the Specialist of course is comparable to a US master’s degree.  But those degrees are awarded universities.

Thank you again for your message to FCSA.”

Thank you for your message to FCSA regarding the report of your studies in the Netherlands.  In that you expressed concern over the US equivalent outcomes found in the report.   Perhaps the best way to respond would be to look at the system as it was in the 1980s well before the implementation of the Bologna-compliant degree structure of 2002 onward.   Students completing secondary school had two options for post-secondary study, the Hogescholen accessed with the HAVO or the Universities entered after VWO.   HAVO was earned after Secondary V or 11^th Grade while VWO came at the end of six years of secondary, 12 years from Age 6 primary class.  The Hogeschools offered the HBO diploma after four years and the Universities, at least as of 1982 following the passage of the University Act of 1981, offered the doctorandus/doctoraalexamen officially set at four years by that Act though previously Dutch students took longer to complete their first degrees.   The Act also made the propaedeutisch examen mandatory for degree programs where it had not been previously.   This first year of study at university may or may not have been followed by a Kandidatexamen (not mandatory in all programs) but of course the doctoraalexamen continued to be required along with the Scriptie at the end of the four years.   FCSA, and many other US International Credential Services consider four year fist university degrees in any country to be comparable to a US bachelor’s degree.   Requirement of a thesis, while more common in US universities at the master’s level is often found in many undergraduate programs, particularly those private schools in the East which require a Senior Thesis.  As of the 1982 Act things got a little more complicated.   Doctorandus study was considered First Phase (Eerste Fase).   Second Phase (Tweede Fase) was designed to lead ultimately to the degree of Doctor/dr (PhD).   There was no formal classwork, the time, designed in 1982 (though it may have played out differently at various institutions), was not to exceed two years and then actual writing and defense of the dissertation would ensue for a total of at least three years altogether (four by 1993).   During that Second Phase research skills and training took place, health care degree candidates took clinical training, advanced teacher training for teacher education students, etc.   The whole concept of Second Phase was to provide professional training appropriate to the discipline being studied.   No degree was awarded until the Promotie or Doctor/dr. itself was awarded.   For those not involved in a teacher education degree some teaching (pedagogical skills) were part of the Second Phase for a minimum of six months.   You indicated you did HAVO and then we have the completion of the HEAO program that was geared toward business studies.   FCSA considers any three year diploma to be undergraduate study leading to a US bachelor’s degree and that is what the report indicates.  You then joined the university for an Economics degree.  Following your Doctorandus degree in 1986 you obtained the certification from the university in Groningen that you had completed the Second Phase studies.   The report indicates that this is comparable to Alternative Teacher Certification in Economics.   The more I examine this the more I disagree with that finding.   Teacher training and pedagogical methods WAS intended by the 1982 Act to part of Second Phase but unless one was studying to be a Teacher this was not the focus of the entire two years.   Because it was clearly post-doctorandus study it also needs to be clearly designated graduate level study.   So we will change that outcome to “Two years of graduate study in Social Economics.”  It does not result in US master’s comparability as no degree was awarded for this study (since none existed then in the Dutch educational system).  You have mentioned ABD which stands, of course, for All But Dissertation as a possible outcome.   This would not be accurate as in the US system ABD status results when one has completed all doctoral coursework and only the dissertation writing and defense remains.   Furthermore, ABD is not an actual degree but colloquial term used by academics in describing someone’s relationship to the actual earning of the PhD degree.

We will make the adjustment to the report to reflect the attainment of two years of graduate level study as soon as possible and issue that updated report.

Thank you again for your message to FCSA.

“Thank you for your message to FCSA regarding the evaluation of your studies in Spain.   In that you expressed concern that the outcome was not a US Bachelor’s degree in nursing, pointing out the European Qualifications Framework and the Spanish MECES (Marco Espanol de Cualificaciones para la Educacion Superior) place your diploma at ‘bachelor’s level’ and that the total credit hours in the report 98 and 32 would bring your total to 130 hours, more than the usual amount for a US bachelor’s degree.   I shall address each in turn.  First, while the EQF and MECES certainly can be helpful to the US international credential evaluator, in the end the comparison determination is based on a US viewpoint using general standards of best practice.   FCSA follows those standards found in the AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) database known as EDGE (Electronic Database for Global Education).   This tool is also used by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security in adjudicating petitions for H-1B Work Visas and other visas requiring post-secondary degrees.   Indeed Dr. Paver of FCSA is the founder of EDGE.  The first cycle diplomas of three years’ duration are not considered full comparable to the US four-year bachelor’s degree.  Spain did not pass a higher education law re-structuring its degrees to conform to the Bologna model (Spain was an original signatory to the European Higher Education Area) until 2005 and those went into effect in 2006 which was also when MECES was created.   The Diplomado credentials (in various fields but most often in Education and Nursing) went away to be replaced by a three cycle structure of Graduado (4 years, 240 ECTS), Master Universitario (1 or 2 years, 60 or 120 ECTS), and the Doctorado (usually three years but varies).  Prior to the introduction of this new structure Spain had the 3 year Diplomado, 4-6 year Licenciado (depending on the Discipline) and the Doctorado.   While Spain decided (through MECES) decided to make the old diplomado equal to the new Graduado legally, it is clear that nothing had changed in terms of content, it was basically a political and legal decision to make the two comparable.   For the outside evaluator however, they are not the same.

The credit hours in the FCSA report total 98 US semester hours of which a sub-set of 32 represent advanced undergraduate courses (compared to the courses taken in the earlier years).   This sub-set has value to US college and university readers of the report who are looking for that sort of sub-delineation in their admission practices.   So that 32 figure is not added to the 98, it is part of the 98.

Finally, as to your point regarding CGFNS, I am well aware of their evaluation practices having served on their Board of Directors for 9 years and also as Chair of the Nursing Evaluation Appeals Committee.   We agreed to disagree on what constitutes the overseas equivalent of a BSN.   I also note that their language was always ‘first level general nurse’ which takes in the four year first nursing degree in a country as well as a lower-level three year diploma in nursing.   They were not explicitly stating it as a BSN equivalent but essentially treated it like one.

FCSA believes the US equivalent to a BSN in Spain was the Licenciado en Enfermeria pre-Bologna and the Graduado en Enfermeria post-Bologna.

Thank you again for your message to FCSA and the opportunity to explain the FCSA findings.”

“Thank you for your message regarding the report of your studies in China completed over a year ago.  In that message you expressed concern regarding the reduction of credits from those awarded by the school and those assigned by FCSA.   FCSA adheres to the first and most important principle of US International Credential evaluation which states that a year of full time study overseas should equal a year of full time study in the USA, regardless of credit/unit system used, hours undertaken or credits assigned.   Thus an academic year in China (two semesters) should yield the same or similar amount of US Carnegie semester hours in a US college year (two semesters).   As we examine the transcript of your study we find some most alarming high numbers:  respectively from first semester 2004-05 through eighth semester 2007-08 we find these total semester credit totals:  22.5, 25, 32.5, 21.5, 35, 38, 20 and 33 for a grand total of 231 credits in a four year eight semester degree.   We compare that to the standard model at any US four year eight semester degree of 120 and the obvious conclusion is that we must either reduce credits or conceded that your four year bachelors is worth almost exactly TWICE as much as a standard US bachelor’s degree.   FCSA refuses to concede that fact as no degree is worth more than any other.   Therefore we reduce the credits to reflect a more accurate picture of equality and the final credit amount in the report was 140, still a bit high but acceptable for a four year degree.

FCSA will never produce a report that says a Degree from Country X is worth twice as many credits as a degree from the USA.   Therefore a reduction in credits was inevitable and quite appropriate.   The report stands as completed over a year ago.

Thank you again for your message to FCSA.”

“Thank you for your message regarding the report of your studies in China completed over a year ago.  In that message you expressed concern regarding the reduction of credits from those awarded by the school and those assigned by FCSA.   FCSA adheres to the first and most important principle of US International Credential evaluation which states that a year of full time study overseas should equal a year of full time study in the USA, regardless of credit/unit system used, hours undertaken or credits assigned.   Thus an academic year in China (two semesters) should yield the same or similar amount of US Carnegie semester hours in a US college year (two semesters).   As we examine the transcript of your study we find some most alarming high numbers:  respectively from first semester 2004-05 through eighth semester 2007-08 we find these total semester credit totals:  22.5, 25, 32.5, 21.5, 35, 38, 20 and 33 for a grand total of 231 credits in a four year eight semester degree.   We compare that to the standard model at any US four year eight semester degree of 120 and the obvious conclusion is that we must either reduce credits or conceded that your four year bachelors is worth almost exactly TWICE as much as a standard US bachelor’s degree.   FCSA refuses to concede that fact as no degree is worth more than any other.   Therefore we reduce the credits to reflect a more accurate picture of equality and the final credit amount in the report was 140, still a bit high but acceptable for a four year degree.

FCSA will never produce a report that says a Degree from Country X is worth twice as many credits as a degree from the USA.   Therefore a reduction in credits was inevitable and quite appropriate.   The report stands as completed over a year ago.

Thank you again for your message to FCSA.”