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SINGAPORE RESIDENT
I was a student of several post secondary institution having graduated
with National Trade Certificate in Automotive Technology, Dip in
Manufacturing Engineering, Dip Psychology, Adv Dip Strategic Management
(HR), & Adv Dip Counselling. In addition I am presently enrolled in a
Graduate Diploma program in a local institution in Singapore.
I am writing in to explore my options for credit transfer and
consolidation of my learning achievements for an appropriate undergraduate
qualification that the Academic Board deem fit.
While the
degrees featured in the text of BA in 4 Weeks are conferred exclusively by
US regionally accredited institutions, if you plan to pursue a career in
any area within the Singapore government apparatus or associated quangos
(defense, urban planning, public works, administration, policy, health
services, at al), you may have a problem having such a degree recognized.
Same may apply
to any non-resident undergraduate degree from anywhere. This seems to be a
problem specific to Singapore. Least ways, that’s the way things stood a very
few years back. Important in the first instance that you confirm with a
representative sample of prospective employers that they will accept
LEGITIMATE distance learning exam-based degrees.
If in the end
you decide to go ahead with the plan, you will have to have your academic
and professional credentials evaluated for equivalency. In the US, for
foreign degrees and credits to be accepted at regionally accredited
universities and colleges, they must have been earned at institutions
deemed equivalent to US regionally accredited institutions. The legitimacy
of foreign institutions (and by extension their degrees) is commonly
checked against a number of criteria collectively known as GAAP (Generally
Accepted Accrediting Principles), a description coined by some in the
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
(mercifully known by the acronym AACRAO).
If the foreign
institution is deemed legitimately accredited in its own country (in many,
many cases this means if the foreign college or university is a state
funded, and state designated institution of higher learning) the estimated
US equivalent level and breadth of the credential is considered, and an
equivalency evaluation arrived at. The determination of foreign institution
legitimacy and the estimation of US equivalency is made either by the US
accepting institution, i.e., the college or university, or, more often, by
an outside agency that specializes in foreign credential evaluation. These
outside agencies are private, unregulated organizations. Normally, the
accepting institution will provide a list of acceptable agencies from which
the applicant must choose one. There is a significant fee for this service.
The equivalency transcript generated by the agency is sent directly to the
accepting institution. I looks very similar to a normal US college
transcript, and contains the same type of anti forgery protections.
Lawrie
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