US equivalent bachelor's degree/Teaching License

[faisalsamerrai]

Hello,
I'm really lost right now and need your advice.
I have got my bachelor's degree in Biochemistry after studying 3 years beyond 12 years of elementary-secondary education.
I had my transcripts evaluated by SpanTran and their reply was *Recommended US equivalency: completion of three years (94 semester credit hours) of undergraduate study of biochemistry at a regionally-accredited institution of higher education*
From what I have seen, a bachelor's degree of biochemistry in the US takes 4 years.
The question is that, is the problem of my bachelors not being equivalent to a US bachelors only because of the study years (being 3 instead of 4) or are there other problems to consider?
The main reason I want my bachelors to be US equivalent is because I'm willing to take TeachNow program, do Praxis tests and apply for a US teaching license.

Thank you!

[sid]

There will be more to it than that, I expect. Probably about the number and type of courses. The equivalency agency should be able to explain.

[PsyGuy]

Yes...No

Its less about the number of years of study. What really matters is the number of credits/units (semester credit hour equivalents), this is why the reports generated by NACES organizations identify both credits and years of study. An undergraduate/first/bachelors US degree is composed of a minimum of 120 credits, which typically takes 4 years to complete, you can do it in less time (summer semesters, higher than average course loads, and IB/AP/A*/CLEP/dual credit courses at the senior school level) such that a focused student could reasonably get 120 credits done in 3 years and that would be acceptable. Its the credits that matter more than the years of study. However, its also possible to have the equivalent to a US bachelors degree and have less than the 120 hours, though its much less common.

Unfortunately this NACES evaluator has determined that you do not have the equivalent of a US bachelors degree and that your credits arent even close (you only have 94 of the minimum 120). If you were close a different evaluator might reach a different conclusion, but your nearly a quarter of the credits short. Its possible that when you submitted your transcripts you did not elect to or provide your senior/secondary school transcripts which may have resulted in some additional credits, but I doubt youd get enough to make up the 26 credit deficit.
While its possible you could enroll in Teach Now and complete their program you would just get a certificate from them, you would not be eligible for a credential from any of the states regulating authoritys.

You have several options:
1) You could find a US accredited institution that will state on a transcript/letter from them that you have the equivalent of a bachelors degree from their institution (the NACES finding is only a recommendation).
2) Going back to your home Uni and complete an additional 26 credits or a years worth of study (another major for example).
3) Apply to a Uni such as UPe or Thomas Edison that will accept up to 90 credits (what youve earned) or Excelsior which will accept up to 113 credits, and then require you to complete what is likely going to be mostly general ed. courses and get a bachelors from them.
4) In combination with #3 above, specifically Excelsior, since most of your degree deficiencies are likely general ed courses, you could satisfy a majority of them (and earn additional credits) by taking CLEP exams, and then take the cornerstone, capstone, and information literacy courses from Excelsior.
5) Identify a Uni or college or junior college that you could take an additional 26 credits from thats outside the US and submit the additional transcript to the same or a new NACES evaluator and see if the combination of credits would result in a finding of a four year (120 credit) US bachelors degree. You have a bachelors degree, you just dont have enough credits.
6) You could apply for another review with a different NACES evaluator (submit your secondary transcripts as well) and see if you get more credits and/or a better outcome thats a 4 year US equivalent bachelor degree. Youre deficient nearly a whole year so unless you have something substantial youre not likely to get enough out of a new NACES evaluation.

[chemteacher101]

Which country is your degree from? If it's EU and it follows the Bologna convention, try WES instead of SpanTran. They're better at understanding that a 3 year EU Bachelor is equivalent to a 4 year one in the US.

[faisalsamerrai]

Thank you for the valuable information.

@PsyGuy the whole idea got clear after what you have said, but I still have some questions in regard to the options you mentioned.
N.B: I have not included my senior/secondary school transcripts.
1. So I could search for a US accredited institution, check the courses they give for biochemistry and count their total semester credit hours and compare it to my earned semester credits, and if they are equivalent, I can contact them and request a transcript/letter that I have an equivalent to a bachelors degree from them. Right?
2. Will studying any course (even if not related to biochemistry) or even if I study one year of a new major, be added to my original 94 semester credit hours?
3. A friend of mine has recommended "University of the People" do you think studying there just to get the required 26 semester credits is worth it?

@chemteacher101 I have got my degree from Lebanon (the country), do you think it's worth a try to evaluate my transcripts via WES?

[PsyGuy]

@faisalsamerrai

No, you would have to do some research and consultation with a Uni, then proceed with whatever evaluation process they have, taking your NACES (SpanTran) evaluation as part of whatever application process they have in place and then using whatever document (a transcript, etc.) they provide, that would then state your 3 year bachelors is equivalent or acceptable to them as a 4 year bachelors degree. You cant just review their catalog, then send them an email stating you think your degree is equivalent to one they would confer, and ask them to send you a letter to that effect. You would have to undergo whatever formal evaluation process the US Uni would have in place, which is almost certainly going to include some type of application and associated fees.

Yes, thats potentially, the idea. You need to get that 94 to 120+. You have a bachelors degree and e years (94 credits) of biochemistry. Its likely what your missing is what would be called the general education coursework, which would comprise the remaining credits to get to 120. Its likely ANY course of study or collection of credits that gets you too 120 is whats going to allow you to get a US 4 year bachelors degree equivalence. Going back to your original Uni for an additional year of study is one way to get there.

UPe (University of the People) is one option. They will accept up to 90 credits in transfer. That doesnt mean you will get all 90 credits (and their degree is 122 credits). UPe has a bachelors of health science, not a degree in biochemistry. There is very likely going to be a number of courses (likely a lot of courses) in that major that you will need to take; you can find the major required courses here:

https://www.uopeople.edu/programs/hs/he ... urriculum/

One of those major requirements is going to be an internship related to health science.
This is going to be in addition to the 13 general education course requirements, some of which may have been part of your current credits that you can transfer, and some of them are part of the major required courses, they include:
UNIV 1001 Online Education Strategies
MATH 1201 College Algebra
MATH 1280 Introduction to Statistics
ENGL 0101 English Composition 1
ENGL 1102 English Composition 2
PHIL 1404 Ethics and Social Responsibility
HIST 1421 Greek and Roman Civilization
2 courses in Humanities
2 courses in Social and Behavioral Sciences
1 course in Natural Sciences and Technology
1 elective course not from your major

You will have to apply, and then request a transfer credit evaluation (this is free), and then they will give you a report of what courses will be accepted for transfer. Each course costs USD$17 if you want it accepted for transfer. Its possible you could take CLEP exams to fulfill some of the requirements, which costs USD$89 (plus the transfer fee for UPe of USD$17) and each course at UPe is $120, so CLEP will save you a little coin but mostly time. Thats really the benefit of UPe, its low cost. There are 5 terms in a year, PT students take 1 course a term and FT students may take up to 4 courses per term.

UPe would likely be a lot of work for you. Its going to take you closer to 2 years to get all the courses done for their degree. Combining their program to get the general education courses, possibly with some CLEP exams would be a lower cost approach, if your just interested in getting the credits. If youre interested in a US degree than studying at UPe (with possibly adding CLEP exams) than transferring too Excelsior College would get you a lot closer to the degree in transferring almost everything, but the minimum 3 courses at Excelsior and graduating with a liberal arts bachelors degree in natural science will cost you about US$7K (not counting the courses at UPe or CLEP).
UPe will cost around USD$3K to get their degree (very general estimate). If you just do 9 courses (27 credits) it would be USD$1140. Youd have to be 'smart' about the courses you take such that a NACES evaluation would look at them in aggregate and conclude that its equivalent to a US 4 year bachelors degree, If you took all 13 courses to complete the general education and foundations course program at UPe it would cost you USD$1620 (a little less for each CLEP exam). You could do that in under a year and would give you 39 credits. You probably would have some transfer credits (maths, science, etc.) that you could transfer in reducing that 39 lower (but you need 27 credits at a minimum).

WES isnt going to do much more for a Lebanese degree.

[faisalsamerrai]

So do I have to transfer the credits earned from CLEP exams to a university in order to be counted as actual university credits? Or is it enough just to take CLEP exams and evaluate that alongside with my bachelors degree?
If I do any coursework or exams (not from a uni) that will get me semester credits, do I have to transfer those credits to a uni in order for them to be counted as actual semester credits?

In case of uni of people, if I take 13 courses, that will give 39 credits in less than a year. But the thing is that, from my transferred credits to uni of people, only if 90 credits got transferred (90+39=129) will make it equivalent to a US bachelors. But most probably lets say only 70 credits will be transferred, so i’ll need 50+ credits to get a total of 120+ credits. Right?

[chemteacher101]

WES has a tool to check "degree equivalency". It will give you an idea of how they would view your current degree.
https://applications.wes.org/degree-equivalency-tool/

[PsyGuy]

@faisalsamerrai

Yes, CLEP is an assessment program. Different Unis have different policies on what exams they will accept, what scores are needed, and what courses the exams are equivalent too. Some Unis accept a lot of CLEP and some very few or none at all. Its up to the Uni to accept them and then post them on your transcript as what courses they are/were acceptable as.

Yes, whatever courses or exams you take you will need them to be accepted by a University to have them evaluated for credits towards a degree. NACES organizations will look at some very narrow experiences outside of the Uni or academic environment and count them towards degree equivalence, but its very uncommon to do so. NACES organizations are not degree granting institutions, they are interpreters, and generally do not want to put themselves in the position of claiming some accomplishment or achievement that some other organization (such as a Uni) has not conferred.

You would be on the fortunate side to get 60 credits.
You can divide the US undergraduate/first/bachelors degree program into 4 categories, each equating to about a year of study.
A) 1 year of General Education coursework; Typically across a broad liberal arts series of foundation/introductory courses that touch along various disciplines: Fine Arts, Natural Science, Maths, Humanities, Social Science, Composition/Literature, Health and Wellness, Technology Literacy. Essentially a second year of a students SLL year in secondary edu.
B) 1 Year of General Electives; This can be many things a second degree major, a minor, concentration. It can be a complimenting area of interest to the major field of study, a series of fall back courses to support a students career objectives, or simply areas of interest.
C) 1 Year of Major coursework; This is the prescribed sequence of courses required by the Uni for conferral of a formal degree in an area of study. Its the seminal courses that follow a curriculum conferring breadth and depth of the subject matter at the professional entry level of the student.
D) 1 Year of Major Electives; These are the courses that support the major courses often providing the background and prerequisites for study of the major field of study. A student in a professional elementary education program may have major electives consisting of: Speech, Developmental Psychology, Community Sociology, Technology Tools for Non-Science Majors, etc. Its not a difficult stretch to see how those courses support the major courses for someone entering education, and those courses may well have prerequisite courses (usually general edu courses) such as Introduction to Psychology and Sociology. These courses are usually offered outside the major studies department (such as psychology).

Your two problems are thus. (1) You likely dont have the general edu courses.
It typical in three year non-US degrees to subsume those studies and content were obtained/transferred at the upper secondary level of edu. You would likely be surprised to find that many US students do not leave the SLL being able to do thing like: read at grade level, write, do simple computational maths, a pull up, composite simple shapes, etc. Many deemed "college capable", are average students who come to Uni and can: read a newspaper article, write a 5 paragraph essay, create a power point presentation, do basic arithmetic, and fill out a bubble sheet for X-guess tests and assessments. A "college ready" student has complete a significant number of advanced, honors, AP, IB coursework and comes to Uni with a substantial an in some cases the entire general edu sequence of courses already completed. The problem is that most Unis in the US are more concerned with collecting tuition and fees and funding the efforts of the Uni, that its not in their interest to recognize that foreign students often come from regions that have better standards and expectations for their secondary level of edu. They expect students to know and know how to do X and Y prior to the start of tertiary edu. US Unis generate a lot of revenue compared to costs on general edu and remedial edu courses.
(2) The major of Health Science available at UPe and your degree in Bio Chemistry while life science related are really very different major/degree programs. Its very likely you will have a substantial majority of courses to complete in the Health Science major at UPe. You might have a couple of common courses (such as General Biology, A&P, Genetics and Statistics), but that is going to leave a lot of courses for you to take. In addition, as I wrote above, the major requires an internship, field experience youre going to have to arrange for and organize and actually show up every day for, its not something youre going to be able to rush through. The major in Health Science at UPe is some 50 credits incorporating the major year and major elective year of a traditional US Uni program.

If the stars and planets are aligned for you I think youd get about two years of study (about 60 credits) which would consist of almost entirely electives, both general edu and major electives with a handful of major common courses (General Biology, A&P, Genetics and Statistics, etc.) in the degree major and a couple general edu courses (maths and general science). This would leave you about 2 years of study left to do. You could further shorten those general edu courses by taking about 6 CLEP courses with your maths and science coursework leaving you about half the general edu courses reducing your course of study to about a year and a half. Youd have to schedule that internship though and I doubt you can or would want to take additional courses while doing it.
A year is comprised of 5 terms at UPe, youd spend 5 terms (a year) doing the Health Science major and leave you 2 terms to finish the General edu courses plus 1 term (or its equivalent) for the internship for a total of 8 terms (its just how the sequence works out with foundations courses and prerequisite courses).
The major benefit to all of that at UPe would be the cost, it would be about USD$2500, which for the US is a ridiculously cheap amount of coin for a degree. Thats about what you would spend for ONE semester/term of FTE studies at a junior/community college.

Setting all this aside for a moment. You may wish to consider a different tactic other than a US credential, such as the AO option for QTS or doing a non-US M.Ed (or similar) in a region where that is the professional credential or awards a credential such as PGDE from HKU (HK), etc. Even looking at an option such as the M.Ed from UPe combined with work in an IS can be used towards registration in HK, Scotland or Ireland. AO will cost you about (a little less than) half what Teach Now will cost alone not counting the cost of a degree even at UPe, and the M.Ed at UPe will cost about USD$500 more than the BS in Health Science and that savings is less than what IB training would cost and the UPe M.Ed includes. Essentially, you could get AO (a full credential) and a M.Ed for what Teach Now will cost alone and for about the same amount of time doing the M.Ed as the BS would take.

[shadowjack]

@faisal

an undergraduate degree in the US/Canada is a 4 year program. Education for primary is usually a 4 year program, but at secondary it is often (and usually) a 5 year program, with a 4 year degree and a one year Post-Degree education program, with perhaps an additional 6 or more months added if you want the B.Ed.

A 3 year uni degree is common in the UK, but not in North America. So you will run into problems with credit hours. An A level in the UK is 12 years and a 3 year degree is short by one year.

Just my 2 cents