1. Confirm that your institution accepts our evaluation. Academic Evaluation Services has been a NACES member since 2008.
2. Confirm the type of evaluation you require. Review our Evaluation Services.
3. Confirm your institution’s deadline. The evaluation process takes many weeks.
4. Gather or request your academic documents per our AES Document Requirements Guide.
5. Carefully review our website and FAQs to understand all fees that may apply to you.
   • Evaluation Services
   • Translation Services
   • Verification Services
   • Delivery Services
6. Carefully complete the AES application
7. Submit the following to our office:
   • the academic documents gathered in Step #4
   • certified translations, if applicable
   • copy of passport or driver’s license
   • proof of name change, if applicable

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of checking with your intended institution or employer if they will accept AES evaluations as well as the type of evaluation required. As a reminder, AES is a NACES (National Association of Credential Evaluations Services) member company.

There are thousands of institutions of higher education, employers, and other users of foreign credential evaluations in the US. Each institution has their own requirements which may change from time to time. It is not possible for AES to maintain an accurate list of institutions that accept our evaluations. Therefore, it’s imperative that each client check with their requesting institution.

Check with the institution, prospective employer, immigration attorney or licensing board to understand the specific requirements before sending documents for evaluation. Refer to the descriptions on our Services page as some general guidelines that could be helpful.

• Official transcripts are preferred in all cases. Official means records mailed or emailed directly to AES from the institution attended. This is required if our AES Document Requirements Guide specifically states “Official transcripts” are required for your country of study. Many U.S. institutions of higher education require official documents to be used.
• Original diplomas or certificates, if the study program was completed; color scans made from the original documents are accepted if your diploma can be verified and/or if it is accompanied by official transcripts.
• A certified English translation for each academic document in original or official form or in color scan made from original. Refer to Translation Services for more information.
• Some institutions such as SNHU and UMGC, will NOT accept evaluations completed from scans. Please check your specific institution’s requirements before submitting scans. If the evaluation is not accepted due to scans used and you later wish to submit official documents, a new evaluation fee will be required, and the timeline will start again. It is more economical and efficient to submit official documents when in doubt.

YES! Our evaluators can evaluate academic documents from any country and any time period. Work experience, training, non-academic, and U.S. documents will not be taken into consideration.

We require the original language version of all documents submitted for evaluation as well as a certified English translation if the document is not issued in English. Please refer to Translation Services for our translation requirements.

Clients are responsible for obtaining and submitting their own documents; we cannot request documents on behalf of clients. Please contact the issuing institution to have official records sent directly to Academic Evaluation Services. Please include your client ID number with any documents submitted to our office.

Mailing Address for Paper Documents:
Academic Evaluation Services
9385 N. 56th St., Suite 201
Tampa, FL 33617

Electronic Submissions:
Many institutions can now submit documents electronically. The email address for institutions to send official records is: info@aes-edu.org .

Please note:

• Some U.S. institutions, such as SNHU, UMGC Purdue Global, FIT, and Sante Fe College (among others), require evaluations based on official paper documents and will not accept emailed records.
• If our office cannot verify that the sender’s email address belongs to an official institution, the submission will be rejected, and paper documents will be required.

When mailing original documents, we strongly recommend using a service that provides tracking and requires signature. Please ensure you submit your application for evaluation services before submitting any documents to our office. Without an application we have no method to identify to whom the received documents belong, and we will not know which services are requested.

Once documents are received, we will update your account status within 2 business days; this update will generate an email notification to the email address on file. It is important to use the email address you check most frequently on the application to ensure you will receive all status update emails; add info@aes-edu.org on your safe sender list as well.

If you have confirmed that your package has been delivered and it has been more than 2 business days since the delivery occurred first, please check your junk mail folder for notification from us. If the notification is not there, please contact our office at info@aes-edu.org.

It is possible that we have not been able to match your documents based on a different name used in your application. In order to avoid delays please include a copy of your application or your client ID number with all mail correspondence.

Yes, all original documents are returned to clients once the evaluation has been completed, unless the documents are determined to be tampered with, fraudulent, or inauthentic.

A delivery fee is required to return original documents. An additional fee may be required to return diplomas submitted in a tube or any oversized documents. Refer to our  Delivery Services page.

We take great care in storing and packaging documents, however, we are not liable for any delays, loss, or damage incurred by shipping carrier.

Official documents, those that were submitted directly to our office by the issuing institution and/or in a officially sealed or stamped envelope, will not be returned as these documents become property of Academic Evaluation Services once opened by us.

As our volume fluctuates and each case is different, no guarantees can be given for an exact date of completion for regular files. However, our current time frame to complete evaluations is approximately 3 to 4 weeks once all required documents have been received and all fees have been paid. Evaluation times are even longer if verification services are required. RUSH services are completed in within 5 business days.

The following steps will help to ensure timely processing:

• Check that your institution accepts AES evaluations.
• Verify the type of evaluation your institution requires.
• Avoid peak times. Within 3 weeks of application deadlines is when most clients apply for evaluation.
• Review our website completely to ensure you understand all policies, fees, requirements, and timelines.
• Request official documents to be sent directly to AES or obtain your original documents, including certified translations.
• Carefully complete your application requesting services. Incorrect information entered in this stage can cause unnecessary delays.
• Submit the required payment, academic documents and a copy of your photo ID, all with your client ID number.
• Respond promptly to all email and phone requests for additional documents and/or payment.

• RUSH services are available. RUSH services are usually completed within three to five business days after all required documents and all fees have been received.
• The cost for RUSH services is an additional 100% of the fees to be paid for the evaluation and/or translation selected. Refer to our fees page.
• RUSH services are available to all clients, however, if your file requires verification, the time frame is dependent on the response time of the verifying institution.

Please review our Payment Options.

Physical records are purged as soon as the evaluation is completed however, we maintain records in electronic form indefinitely. Therefore, you may request an additional copy or update your evaluation at any time. In rare situations we may no longer have records on files greater than 10 years old. We will inform you if this is the case when we receive a request. We reserve the right to adjust our records retention policies in the future.

Yes. Please refer to Additional Official Copies for the related fees.

Any client may submit new documents to be added to an evaluation previously completed. New charges will apply. Refer to Update Evaluation for additional information.

Academic Evaluation Services, Inc. has an open-door policy regarding the review of the work completed. We guarantee the professionalism and integrity of our procedure, which is to give each document an honest and diligent evaluation. However, it will occur that the outcome of an evaluation does not necessarily meet the expectations of the client. Also, we would like to emphasize that our evaluation process will in no way be tailored to meet client expectations, it will be 100% based on our professional process.

As stated in our literature, due to the differences between U.S. and foreign education systems, the evaluations do not necessarily equal the same number of credits, years of study, grades and degrees/titles granted in the original country.

You are welcome to bring to our attention in writing (send email to info@aes-edu.org) any concerns you have regarding the outcome of your evaluation, and we will review your file. However, please remember that we conduct a professional evaluation process that is not determined in any way by the expectations of the client. We encourage you to thoroughly read through our website and our application to ensure you agree with the terms stated prior to submitting your request for services.

1. If you believe there is a mistake on your evaluation/translation, you are welcome to bring the issue to our attention in writing within 30 days by sending an email to info@aes-edu.org with your client ID, full name, date of evaluation, and detailed explanation of the suspected mistake. If your concerns have merit, a revised evaluation/translation will be issued at no additional cost to you.

When you begin an application with AES, you must review and accept our Terms of Service. We ask that if you do not agree with any of these terms, please do not apply for services. The terms are as follows:

General

• • It is the obligation of the client to confirm with the receiving institution or organization that they accept our evaluations as well as the type of evaluation required.

• • It is the obligation of the client to thoroughly read all information at www.aes-edu.org to understand the evaluation process and requirements before submitting an application.

Payment

• • All fees paid are non-refundable except in case of overpayment.

• • An application fee of $50 is non-refundable in case AES declines to provide services to the client. This does not apply if the client requests to cancel or refuses to submit required documentation

• • No services will be provided until all required documents have been received and all required fees have been paid.

Time Frame

• • Our current time frame to complete evaluations is approximately 3 to 4 weeks once all required documents have been received and all fees have been paid

• • RUSH services are completed between three to five business days once all documents have been received and all fees have been paid.

• • If your file requires verification services, the time frame is dependent on the response time of the verifying institution and no time frame can be estimated by AES. This applies to standard and rush timeframe files.

• • Any missing documents must be submitted within a four-week period; this office must be notified if additional time is needed. After three months of no reply, your evaluation may be cancelled.

Fraudulent Documents

• • This office reserves the right to investigate and verify any document under suspicion of fraud, alteration or inaccuracies.

• • Any documents questioned by this office regarding its authenticity will not be returned to the client under any circumstances.

• • This office has the professional obligation to notify NACES members and take legal action in the case of suspected/confirmed/fraudulent/altered/inaccurate documents submitted.

Diploma – Diploma is a general name for an institution-issued document awarding the final degree/qualification. It should have the date of award and be signed by appropriate university officials. These documents are sometimes called certificates.

Electronic documents – Electronic documents are those sent by the client to Academic Evaluation Services, Inc. via electronic means such as email or upload to our application system. Electronic documents scanned in color from the original documents are accepted if your degree or transcripts can be verified and/or if it is accompanied by official transcripts.

External Exams – Many countries have an external exam system where the student attends high school and is examined by an external body, often a national examinations board. For these systems, only the final exam-board issued certificate is required for evaluation. School-issued documents are not needed nor required, except when the program is incomplete or if the external exams were not taken. Specific country requirements are listed below.

Evaluation – An evaluation establishes a comparison to the equivalent studies/degree(s) in the U.S. education system. Due to the differences between U.S. and foreign education systems, the evaluations do not necessarily equal the same number of credits, years of study, grades and degrees/titles granted in the original country.

Institution attended – This is the foreign institution where you studied to obtain the academic records you are submitting for evaluation.

Official documents (institution submits directly to AES) – Official documents are those sent directly to our office from the educational institution. Official documents can be submitted via post or electronically (to info@aes edu.org) to our office from the institution attended.

Original documents (client submits directly to AES) – Original documents are those issued to the holder by the awarding institution and sent to our office by the client. Original documents are only accepted for limited countries. Original documents will be returned to the client, unless the documents are determined to be tampered with, fraudulent, or inauthentic. Mailing fees will apply.

Receiving institution – Colleges, universities, licensing boards, employers, etc. to which you will be submitting your evaluation.

Transcript – A transcript is a document issued by the institution attended that lists the courses completed, credits/hours (if applicable) and grade for each. This document must be signed by the appropriate university officials.

Translation – Translation is the process of translating words or text from one language into another. This is separate and distinct from the process of evaluating academic documents from one country in comparison to the United States educational system. Any document not issued in English will need a translation.

Verification – Verification is when our office contacts the institution directly to verify the authenticity of documents submitted by the client. A separate verification fee is required for each institution. This is not required if the institution submits official documents directly to our office.