Course-by-Course Evaluation: When You Need It and What It Includes

If you are applying to a U.S. graduate school or a licensed profession, you will often be told you need a "course-by-course evaluation." Many applicants assume any credential evaluation will do — they submit a document-by-document report and then discover the admissions office or licensing board will not accept it. Understanding the difference before you order saves weeks and extra fees.

What a Course-by-Course Evaluation Actually Contains

A course-by-course evaluation is a detailed academic record translation. For every course you completed in your foreign degree, the evaluation lists:

• The course name (translated to English where necessary)
• The foreign credit value or contact hours
• The equivalent U.S. semester or quarter credit hours
• The grade you received, converted to a U.S. grading scale
• A calculated GPA on the U.S. 4.0 scale (or institution's scale)
• Subject area classification (e.g., science, humanities, engineering)

The result is a document that mirrors what a U.S. university transcript would look like, except it is based on your foreign coursework. Admissions committees, licensing boards, and graduate programs use this to evaluate whether your academic background satisfies their specific course prerequisites.

What a Document-by-Document Evaluation Contains

A document-by-document evaluation (sometimes called a "general evaluation") does none of the above. It evaluates your highest credential only and produces a single equivalency statement: for example, "This credential is equivalent to a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from an accredited U.S. college or university."

It does not list individual courses, calculate a GPA, or show credit hours. It answers only one question: what U.S. degree level does your foreign credential equal?

When Each Type Is Required

Document-by-document is typically sufficient for:

• Canadian immigration (Express Entry ECA reports for IRCC)
• Australian immigration (most visa points assessments)
• Basic employment verification
• H-1B visa petitions (confirming bachelor's equivalency)
• Many federal job applications

Course-by-course is typically required for:

• Graduate school admissions in the United States. Most U.S. master's and doctoral programs require a course-by-course evaluation to assess whether your undergraduate coursework meets their prerequisites (e.g., specific math, science, or business courses).
• Professional licensing boards. Engineering licensure (PE exam), nursing licensure (NCLEX), CPA licensing, medical board applications — most require course-by-course evaluations to verify that your curriculum matches U.S. accreditation standards course by course.
• Teaching certification. State boards of education require course-by-course evaluations to verify that your education degree covered required subject matter and pedagogy areas.
• Some selective immigration categories. EB-2 or O-1 cases with disputed field-of-study nexus sometimes benefit from a course-by-course evaluation to preempt RFEs.

If the entity requesting your evaluation has not specified a type, ask explicitly — accepting a document-by-document when they needed course-by-course is a common mistake that forces applicants to start over.

Cost Comparison

Across major NACES member agencies, pricing breaks down roughly as follows:

Rush processing adds $50–$100 to either type. The gap exists because course-by-course evaluations require evaluators to manually process every line of your transcript, often with foreign language translation involved.

How the GPA Is Calculated

This is a detail many applicants find confusing. Your foreign university likely used a different grading scale — India's percentage system, Germany's 1–5 scale, the UK's Honours classification, etc. The evaluator converts each grade to its U.S. letter-grade equivalent, then calculates a weighted GPA based on credit hours.

The conversion is not a simple linear mapping. A 75% in India does not automatically become a 3.0. Evaluators use established conversion tables that account for the grading culture of the originating country — a 75% in India is actually strong relative to how Indian universities grade, and a competent evaluator will reflect this in the conversion. This is one reason why your choice of evaluator can affect your calculated GPA slightly.

How Long It Takes

Processing times for course-by-course evaluations are similar to document-by-document, but can run slightly longer because of the manual work involved.

• WES standard processing: 20–35 business days after all documents received
• ECE standard processing: approximately 5 business days for most evaluations
• Rush processing available at all major agencies: 3–7 business days

ECE (Educational Credential Evaluators) is a particularly popular choice for graduate school admissions because of its fast standard turnaround. Many graduate admissions offices specifically name ECE as an accepted or preferred evaluator.

Which Agencies Offer Course-by-Course Evaluations

All major NACES member agencies offer both report types:

• WES (World Education Services) — most widely recognized; accepted at nearly all U.S. graduate programs
• ECE (Educational Credential Evaluators) — strong reputation with university admissions; 5-business-day standard processing
• IEE (International Education Evaluations) — well-regarded for licensing board and immigration applications
• SpanTran — popular with U.S. state teacher certification boards
• ERES (Education Records Evaluation Service) — commonly used for healthcare licensing

There is no single "best" agency for course-by-course evaluations — the right choice depends on what institution or board is receiving it. Some graduate programs specify which agencies they accept. Check the receiving institution's requirements before ordering.

Documents Required for a Course-by-Course Evaluation

Because the evaluator needs to process every course individually, the document requirements are more extensive than for a document-by-document report:

• Official transcripts showing all completed coursework, grades, and credits
• Degree certificate or diploma
• Mark sheets (required by some agencies in addition to consolidated transcripts)
• Certified English translation of all documents (if not originally in English)
• Course descriptions or syllabus summaries (sometimes required for specialized licensing applications)

Incomplete transcripts are the most common reason course-by-course evaluations are delayed or placed on hold. Partial records — say, only years three and four of a four-year degree — force the evaluator to send a hold notice and wait for the missing records.

What to Do If the Report Will Be Used for Multiple Purposes

You can use the same course-by-course evaluation report for multiple purposes: graduate school admissions, licensing boards, and immigration — provided the evaluating agency sends official copies to each recipient. Most agencies charge per additional copy or per additional recipient address. Order all recipients upfront rather than requesting extra copies later; some agencies charge more for post-issuance copies.

The Credential Evaluation (WES/NACES) Guide includes a full breakdown of document requirements by institution type, how to handle evaluation holds, and a comparison of major agencies by use case.