Universtiy degrees and US equivalency?

[Kenneth]

In marrying one of these awesome ladys, I have a concern
about employability in her previous profession,
teaching,engineering, etc. here in the US.  To be more specific
are degrees from countries such as Columbia, Peru, Brazil, or
Argentina, equivalent to US degrees?  If not would someone  
know what they might acually be in terms of a US university
system?

[Patrick]

... in response to Universtiy degrees and US equivalency?, posted by Kenneth on Jun 9, 2003

My wife has a degree in accounting from Colombia.  There are services that evaluate foreign degrees and provide a certified evaluation.  My wife had that done and they determined it was equivalent to a US accounting degree.  Of course laws are much different here than there and she was never able to find a position as an accountant, despite having taken 15 units of university accounting classes here.  The best she found was a bookkeeping position.

A friend of ours was a doctor in Venezuela.  She's in her second year of residency and should be a general practioner soon.  She studied for 2-3 years before she could pass the board to qualify for a residency.

I work in electronic engineering and I'd say around 60% of the engineers I work with are foreign-born.  I don't believe I've ever talked to anyone who does not have a US degree.  They typically get an equivalent to a BS in their country then obtained an MS here.  There's no certification required in the work I do.

I would assume that any professional woman will most likely have to complete a signifcant amount of study here to stand a good chance of working in her field.

[Michael B]

... in response to Universtiy degrees and US equivalency?, posted by Kenneth on Jun 9, 2003

Part of it depends on the issusing country, but generaly:

colegio=any (usualy small) private school, usualy a high school, could even be a grade school

instituto=institute, usually a trade school or business school (accounting, secreterial skills, foreign languages etc.)

seconderia=high school

universidad=university or college

bachelor=in some countries, this means graduated high school, in some it means BA

licenciado (not used in all countries)=BA, sometimes also means lawyer--usually solicitor level, not barrister level (but if you want to be sure you are hiring a lawyer, demand an 'abogado')

maestro=master degree, although some of them require the equivlant to as US PhD

Doctor=PhD (but be careful, sometimes used as a 'title of respect' for somebody who only has a BA or maybe not even that)

They also have associate degree (but I can't remember what it's called) and be aware that some countries (Mexico used to, don't know if they still do) will issuse a public school teacher creditential (especialy for primary school) with a special two year degree that concentraits on education but does not have a major/minor subject.

Use this as a GUIDE, as another poster said below, there are indeed accrediting agencies who (for a fee) will evaluate a transcript or vita and state a US equivlent that most colleges and employeers will accept.....but like somebody else said, it's the English skills and/or certification/license which will land the really good 'professional' jobs.

[Aaron]

... in response to Universtiy degrees and US equivalency?, posted by Kenneth on Jun 9, 2003

Kenneth,

While most degrees, and possibly teaching and engineering degrees, will be more or less equivalent; the major issue is certification in those areas. This is true in engineering, teaching, and especially medicine.

For example, I have a friend who went to La Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, which is an upscale private institution. His BS was in civil engineering, and I saw his transcript. Comparing his course work with the course work of many other US students, he took more technically demanding classes.

However, even with a degree, here in the USA a person needs to be certified; which usually requires examinations and certain course work.

In engineering, a persona can work as an engineer, but to advance they need certification. Likewise, in education, a person can have a degree for teaching, but they can't find a decent teaching job without certification.

Another lady friend from Colombia who was an MD there has decided to change her profession since she moved to the USA; because for her to obtain certification probably would place more than enough financial strain and commitment of her time than what she is willing to give.

So, don't ignore the certification issue. If your girlfriend already has the credentials to be certified in her profession here in the USA, then she probably wont need to go back to school once she gets here unless it's required for all people who practice in the same profession.

Aaron

[Jeff S]

... in response to Teaching and engineering degrees, posted by Aaron on Jun 9, 2003

Civil or archtectural engineering require certification to be the final sign off, but not necessarily extra classes - she just has to pass a test. The vast majority of engineers in the US working in industry do not require certification, or even a degree, though for some companies a degree is asked for.

As for teaching college level, a foreign degree is usually recognized of course, to teach college the only real requirement is knowledge of the subject (though thinking back, some of those phds teaching at my university lacked even that.) For K-12, though she'll need a credential in most places - usually a year long immersion in the leftist agenda - before they consider her qualified to teach children.

- Jeff

[Red Clay]

... in response to Teaching and engineering degrees, posted by Aaron on Jun 9, 2003

Agree with Aaron, my wife has a 4 year degree from an upscale institute in Lima, but after talking to some colleges here, we're not sure whether or not any of her credits could count here. The university told us they hire some company that judges and compares foreign degrees with ours to determine any possible credit here. They DID tell us that regardless of her actual credits from Peru, her college years there would make it simpler for her to be admitted to this particular university, ie, she would not have to take ACT or SAT tests, etc.

The better news is, once she became legal to work and began applying, she found pretty good jobs based on her resume from Peru alone. She first worked for a chiropractor as receptionist/translator and then was hired away from there by a law firm that knew the chiro and had spoken with my wife on occasion while seeing some of the same clients. Paying her alot more, better schedule, act like they couldn't do without her now. I'm really proud of her.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Universtiy degrees and US equivalency?, posted by Kenneth on Jun 9, 2003

Basically - yes.  A 4 year degree is a 4 year degree, and Colombia has some good universities.  Even degrees like accounting should hold up here - you can check with your state accrediting board to see if a particular college is recognized for certification.    Employability will really depend on her English skills, IMHO.  Some of the environmental and forestry programs from some of the universities are highly respected worldwide.  I've even thought about checking into some of the distance learning programs offered by the Universidad del Valle.