World Education Services (WES) is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that provides credential evaluations for

international student International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

s and

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s planning to study or work in the U.S. and Canada. Founded in 1974, it is based in New York, U.S. It also has operations in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. WES evaluates more than 200,000 credentials per year; they auto-authenticate and define foreign education in U.S. or Canadian terms. WES reports that its credential evaluations are nonbinding advisory opinions. WES's proprietary database collects and stores information of academic certificates of more than 200 countries, 45,000 foreign institutions, and 20,000 academic credentials. However, WES does not have formal agreements with educational systems of any country, and the kept certificates are voluntarily provided by the candidates, and they operate with third-party motives. WES is accredited by and is a charter member of the

National Association of Credential Evaluation Services The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) is a United States non-profit organization, established in 1987, which accredits private companies who, in turn, provide transcript evaluation services of academic degrees awarded fr ...

(NACES) and the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada (ACESC). The

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

's website lists NACES and AICE with a disclaimer that the listing of these organizations is not an endorsement.

References

{{Authority control Educational organizations based in the United States Academic transfer Education reform Student assessment and evaluation Educational evaluation methods