A lot of times Indian students get confused about whether or not their Indian high school or college degree is valid for getting admission in a US university. In such situations, prospective students can refer to World Education Services (WES) to evaluate the worth of their degree in American terms.

WES is a non-profit organisation that evaluates educational credentials from any country and provides them as US or Canadian or New Zealand equivalents. The non-profit works with the aim of ensuring that “everyone is able to put their education, experience, and skills to work anywhere in the world,” their official website claims.

Step 1: Visit the official website — wes.org.

Step 2: On the homepage, click on the ‘Get an Evaluation’ button which is present on the top left corner.

Step 3: Sign up with your email address and personal information, or login if you had already signed up in the past.

Step 4: Key in your degree credentials that are required, such as degree name, university name, years of study, country name etc.

Step 5: Once you submit these credentials, WES will give the exact equivalent of your degree. For example, a three-year BA (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Delhi will be equivalent to a four-year Bachelor’s degree in Canada.

Step 6: On the basis of this evaluation, you can choose to proceed with your study/ immigration application through WES.

Step 7: If you decide to continue with the application, you will be asked to provide the relevant documents to WES for further verification and analysis. However, unless stated otherwise in the required documents, candidates are advised against sending original documents to WES. Also, if WES specifically request original documents for your country or territory of education, we will return the documents once we have completed your evaluation.

A WES reference number will be generated once you submit your application along with full payment and is unique to your credential evaluation report.

Candidates should remember that any degree equivalency provided is based on the information they have entered at the portal. It is not based on verified information or documents and may not be used as proof that they have attended an institution or earned a degree. WES may change this provisional degree equivalency upon document verification and analysis.

For this verification, an evaluation specialist will assess candidate’s credentials and prepare the report.

Additionally, another advantage of this service is that the non-profit has also established digital partnerships with many institutions worldwide. The college or university may be able to conveniently and securely submit documents to WES electronically. In many cases, the non-profit accepts documents that are sent electronically via online platforms and exchange networks.

Also, if the institution does not have a digital arrangement with WES or would like to explore this option, you can encourage an authorised representative from the college or university to complete this Digital Partnership form.