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Did you take college/university courses outside the US?
Courses and degrees that you completed outside of the U.S. might help you earn a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree at MSU Denver. Depending on what courses are needed for the degree, you may be able to receive credit for your previous academic accomplishments so that you do not have to re-take those same courses.
To get started, you may need a Credential Evaluation Report, which helps the university recognize your previous college courses. The information below gives more information, and you can always schedule a meeting with Immigrant Services to learn more.
Credential Evaluation Report
A Credential Evaluation Report is a comparison of your non-U.S. diploma, degree, or college courses to a similar degree or course in the United States. At MSU Denver, a Credential Evaluation Report can be used to receive credit for courses completed you completed outside of the U.S.
There are two types of evaluation reports. A course-by-course and Document-by-Document. Generally, MSU Denver will require a course-by-course document to award you credit for college courses you completed outside of the U.S.
Course-by-course
A course-by-course report identifies and describes each course taken at an international educational institution with an equivalent U.S. semester credit and an equivalent U.S. grade. (Example)
Document-by-document
A document-by-document report simply highlights the U.S. equivalency of an international credential but does not go into detail. This is typically useful to apply for employment that requires a Bachelor’s degree. (Example)
Foreign high school diplomas
If you earned a high school diploma outside of the U.S., then you need to submit an official English-language (or, a certified translation) high school transcript to MSU Denver. The Immigrant Services Program can refer you to a certified translation agency, if needed.
Make sure to only send official academic documents (=attested copies sent to MSU Denver directly by an accepted official source, such as your school, examination board, or ministry of education).
You can review the requirements on how to send official documents to MSU Denver. Click on the “How do I send official documents to MSU Denver?” tab.
Special circumstances: transcripts for forcibly displaced students
Evaluation agencies typically require students to have their international transcripts sent directly from their university to the agency. This can become challenging for refugees and other forcibly displaced individuals who cannot get official academic documents anymore due to war, violence, or other severe situations.
If you were educated in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, or Venezuela, then you may be able to use the WES Gateway Program to have your transcripts evaluated, but you will need access to unofficial transcripts or other types of academic records.
Where can I get a Credential Evaluation Report?
Many students choose evaluations from nationally recognized agencies such as World Education Services (WES), Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), or other NACES-approved agencies.
To transfer credits to MSU Denver, official evaluation reports must be sent directly to MSU Denver by the evaluation service to [email protected].
Summary & common questions: transferring college credits to a U.S. university
To earn a degree from a U.S. institution, you have to graduate from that specific university, and you may be able to transfer courses or credits you completed outside of the U.S.
At MSU Denver, you can transfer up to 90 credits towards a Bachelor’s degree, which usually requires 120 credits (sometimes more) to complete.
It may be possible to transfer the college courses you took outside of the U.S. to MSU Denver.
To have your degree or college courses recognized by MSU Denver, a course-by-course evaluation of your transcripts must be completed by a professional transcript evaluation service such as WES ICAP, ECE, or another member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.
We suggest that you choose a service that can send us a copy of your verified transcript(s) together with the evaluation report.
If you do not wish to transfer your international credentials, then no action is needed from you. You can simply apply at MSU Denver. (We may however need a translation of your foreign high school records – more information about requirements for your foreign high school records can be found here.)
For some exceptions (especially for individuals from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela), please see below.
International transcripts are records of the classes or degrees you have completed at a university outside of the U.S. A transcript is usually provided by the university or school that you attended in your home country.
“Official transcripts” must come directly from the school. “Unofficial transcripts” are school records that you provide yourself. Depending on what you want to do with those records, a U.S. university or employer may ask for official (as well as translated and evaluated) transcripts, also called a U.S. Credential Evaluation Report.
Many employers in the U.S. will accept your degree and/or work experience from your home country! When you are looking for employment on job sites such as Indeed.com or the City & County of Denver’s Job Center, look at the position descriptions to see what qualifications are needed. If the advertised position requires a degree from a U.S. institution, then it will list this requirement. Often, your experience and education from outside the U.S. will be valuable to employers in the U.S., and speaking multiple languages and being familiar with cultures and life in a different country can be a very valuable skills.