Foreign Credential Evaluations

What Foreign Credential Evaluations does

Foreign Credential Evaluations, Inc. (FCE®) is a privately held credential evaluation firm founded in 1981 and headquartered in Roswell, Georgia. The company evaluates educational credentials issued by institutions abroad — covering secondary through post-doctoral levels across 140+ countries — and compares them to U.S. equivalents (e.g., High School Diploma, Bachelor's, Master's, Ph.D., M.D.). FCE operates two core products: Document-by-Document evaluations, which describe and certify the U.S. equivalency of foreign credentials, and Course-by-Course evaluations, which additionally list each course, convert units to U.S. semester credit hours, and convert grades to a cumulative 4.0 GPA scale. Each evaluation is signed by an individual evaluator with a corporate seal.

The underlying methodology is grounded in the AACRAO EDGE (Electronic Database for Global Education), AICE standards, NAFSA guidelines, and comparative education research. FCE has been an Endorsed Member of AICE since 2005, and its evaluations are accepted as authoritative by USCIS, the U.S. Departments of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources. The team of approximately five includes President & CEO Beth Cotter (since 1997), Vice President Powell Cotter, Senior Evaluator Carolyn Christie (since 2014), Evaluator Erin Ives, and Office Manager Jessica Johnson.

FCE generates revenue primarily through one-time evaluation fees paid by individuals and institutions. Pricing is tiered across evaluation type (Document-by-Document vs. Course-by-Course), turnaround speed (Regular vs. Rush), and customer type (individual vs. institution), with individual prices ranging from $125 to $275 and institutional prices from $75 to $275. Add-on fees apply for overseas shipping, extra copies, express mail, and re-evaluations. Distribution is direct via an online application portal and paper-based submission, with electronic intake supported through Digitary, My eQuals, and TrueCopy for select countries. Customer segments include law firms and immigration attorneys, universities and educational institutions, employers and healthcare facilities, and individuals with foreign credentials. The company has completed over 60,000 evaluations since 1981, with named enterprise customers including Alston & Bird, The Oh Law Firm, Chattahoochee Technical College, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Name

Foreign Credential Evaluations

Legal name

Foreign Credential Evaluations, Inc.

Website

https://fceatlanta.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Foreign Credential Evaluations, Inc. (FCE®), founded 1981 and headquartered in Roswell, Georgia, evaluates foreign educational credentials for U.S. equivalency. It serves law firms, universities, employers, and individuals through AICE-endorsed Document-by-Document and Course-by-Course evaluation reports.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Credential Evaluation Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Out-of-State / International Credential Evaluation & Reciprocity Offices (EDADAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Credentialing, Academic Credit, Assessment & Transcript Services (EDAIAFAO), Application Processing & Admissions Support (Document Prep, SOP/Essay, Credential Review) (EDAIACAB), Credential, Education & Professional License Verification (BPAKAEAI)

Keywords

• Foreign credential evaluation
• Education equivalency assessment
• International academic evaluation
• Immigration credential evaluation
• Course-by-course evaluation

Headquarters

HQ city

Roswell

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Credential Evaluation Services: FCE generates revenue through one-time evaluation fees charged to individuals and institutions. Fees vary by evaluation type (Document-by-Document vs. Course-by-Course) and turnaround time (Regular vs. Rush). Additional fees apply for re-evaluations, extra copies, overseas shipping, and express mail.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Foreign Credential Evaluations, Inc. (FCE) evaluates educational credentials received from institutions abroad (e.g., Bachillerato, Licenciado, Master, Diplom) and compares them to U.S. equivalents (e.g., High School Diploma, Bachelor, Master, PhD, MD). The company offers two core products: Document-by-Document evaluations and Course-by-Course evaluations with GPA conversion to a 4.0 scale, serving law firms, universities, employers, and individuals for visa petitions, admissions, and employment verification.

Product overview

Foreign Credential Evaluations, Inc. (FCE) offers a unified credential evaluation service that compares foreign educational credentials to U.S. equivalents. The company provides two core evaluation products: Document-by-Document Evaluation (describing and evaluating foreign education for equivalency) and Course-by-Course Evaluation (adding detailed course-level analysis with U.S. credit hours and GPA conversion). Evaluations are available for both individuals ($125-$275 depending on type and speed) and institutions ($75-$275), covering credentials from secondary school to post-doctoral levels across over 140 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60,000 evaluations completed since 1981 from 140+ countries

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• AICE (Association of International Credential Evaluators)coreOthersFCE has been an Endorsed Member of AICE since 2005. AICE is a not-for-profit organization of international education credential evaluators dedicated to research and publishing in applied comparative education. Endorsed Members are dedicated to providing high-quality international educational credential evaluation services.
• NAFSA: Association of International EducatorscoreOthersFCE is a long-time member of NAFSA, founded in 1948 as the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers. NAFSA offers professional resources and development for educators working in admissions, recruitment, enrollment management, and credential evaluation.
• AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers)coreTechnology or IntegrationFCE makes regular use of the AACRAO EDGE (Electronic Database for Global Education) database in preparing evaluations. AACRAO represents institutions from every sector of higher education and is a recognized authority in Enrollment Management and credential evaluation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• International Education Research Foundation (IERF): IERF is a NACES-member credential evaluation service specializing in foreign credential evaluations for immigration, education, and employment — directly comparable to FCE's service catalog and customer base.
• Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE): ECE is a NACES-member credential evaluation provider serving universities, employers, and immigration attorneys. Offers similar Document-by-Document and Course-by-Course evaluations and is a primary direct competitor to FCE.
• Schofield & Associates Evaluation Services: Schofield is a smaller NACES-member credential evaluator offering Document-by-Document and Course-by-Course evaluations. Comparable to FCE in scale and service focus, serving similar individual and institutional customers.
• World Education Services (WES): WES is the largest U.S. credential evaluation service, offering both Document-by-Document and Course-by-Course evaluations accepted by USCIS, employers, and universities. Direct competitor to FCE across all four of FCE's customer segments.
• SpanTran The Evaluation Company: SpanTran provides foreign credential evaluations for immigration, education, and employment with a digital-first intake process — a direct competitor offering similar evaluation types with greater technology focus than FCE.
• Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI): ACEI is a credential evaluation service providing general and course-by-course evaluations accepted by USCIS and universities. Operates as a direct competitor to FCE across immigration and educational placement use cases.
• Josef Silny & Associates (JS&A): JS&A is a NACES-member credential evaluation service provider, headquartered in Florida, focused on foreign credential evaluations for universities and immigration attorneys — directly comparable to FCE in scope and customer mix.
• Transcript Research: Transcript Research provides foreign credential evaluation services primarily to institutions and immigration attorneys — a direct, smaller-scale competitor to FCE with overlapping customer segments.

Others

• AACRAO EDGE: AACRAO is the higher-education association whose EDGE database is the foundational reference for credential evaluations. Not a competitor but a critical infrastructure provider whose database FCE and competitors all rely on for equivalency determinations.
• National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES): NACES is the professional association of credential evaluation agencies. Not a competitor but rather an industry body whose membership list signals FCE's competitive set and whose standards shape the market FCE operates in.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ForeignCredentialEvaluations
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foreign-credential-evaluations-inc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Foreign Credential Evaluations