Process for Evaluating Foreign Coursework
Students who have satisfactorily completed courses from a foreign nation’s appropriately accredited university may be able to apply the course credits toward an Associate degree at Santa Monica College.
Students should consult a counselor before requesting to have credits evaluated because the time it takes to evaluate a large number of units can delay enrollment. Courses must first be evaluated by an approved credential evaluation agency, and then reviewed by the Santa Monica College Admissions Office. Some courses also require approval by the department chair. Once courses are approved, their credit(s) may then be transferred to Santa Monica College.
Acceptable Foreign Transcripts Evaluation Agencies
To have foreign coursework credits evaluated, students should contact one of the approved credential evaluation agencies listed below and request a detailed equivalency report that indicates-for each course, its U.S. semester unit equivalency, and the grade the student earned:
All foreign evaluation reports must provide a course-by-course analysis.
- Foreign Credential Service of America
- International Educational Equivalency Evaluation Services, Inc.
- Evaluation Service, Inc.
- Transcript Research
- ACEI (Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc.)
- AERC (American Education Research Corporation)
- IERF (International Education Research Foundation)
- SpanTran (discounted rate offered to SMC students on the Divisional Course Analysis service)
- World Education Services
Note: Foreign coursework will not satisfy General Education requirements for Area II, Social Science, Group A (American History/Government) and for Area IV, Language and Rationality, Group A (English Composition).
For questions or concerns, contact transcriptevaluator@smc.edu.