How does ODA evaluate degrees issued in a foreign country?
ODA does not evaluate foreign degrees; it evaluates whether the college approval standards in a foreign country are equivalent to U.S. accreditation. Equivalency means that the country has an evaluation system in place, that the system has standards intended to ensure that colleges are of good quality, and that the standards are actually applied to schools that claim approval from the country in question. At a minimum, degrees must be usable as credentials within the approving country in order to be valid for public or licensed employment in Oregon. See ORS 348.609(a), OAR 583-050-0011(7). Acceptance of Foreign Degrees – OAR 583-050-0031(2) A claimant of a non-U.S. degree issued by a degree supplier not accredited by a U.S. accreditor may submit to the Office information proving that the supplier issuing the degree has the following characteristics. (a) The supplier is operating legally in its host country. (b) The host country has a postsecondary approval system equivalent to U.S. acc
