New Records requirement approved by NCEES board

The NCEES board of directors recently designated the organization’s Credentials Evaluations service as the official educational credentials evaluator for its Records program. Beginning December 1, 2012, all NCEES Records applicants with degrees earned outside the United States from programs not accredited by ABET must have their educational background evaluated by NCEES Credentials Evaluations. Evaluations performed by any other service will no longer be accepted.

The board of directors approved the new requirement at its November 2012 meeting.

An NCEES Record contains the documentation needed for comity licensure, the process by which someone licensed in one state applies for licensure in another jurisdiction. This includes college transcripts, exam and employment verifications, and professional references. NCEES collects and stores this information and then submits it to a state licensing board on the individual’s behalf when he or she applies for comity licensure.

NCEES Executive Director Jerry Carter explained the reason for the change: “The majority of our member licensing boards only accept an NCEES evaluation when reviewing a licensure candidate, so this change will better meet the requirements of the state boards. We also hope that having a unified method for evaluations will improve the NCEES Records application process for our candidates and save them valuable time.”

This change will not affect pending applications submitted prior to December 1.