Foreign Degree Accreditation for US Pilot Positions
 

I'm hoping someone on this forum has some advice concerning which degree accreditation company to use for foreign degree equivalency. All I know for certainty is that US carriers accept degree accreditation from companies which are members of the NACES credential evaluation organization. However, this directory list is long and immediately pulls you into a black hole of confusing and contradictory customer reviews. My husband (the foreign degree holder in question) certainly doesn't want to send his original diploma to a disreputable company. He is in the process of converting his foreign license right now through an ATP-CTP course, so the next step is to get his foreign degree accredited. He does hold a valid green card.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you may offer in this matter.

I have had the same problem not knowing who to choose. I just randomly picked Transcript Research from the NACES list and everything went well. Sorry to not have any better recommendation. All the best!

Sunrig,

Just to put the issue in context, you applied to a US career-destination carrier that required a degree but the carrier didn't handle the degree equivalency determination nor recommend a service they prefer for you to use ? You just had to show up with a NACES determination of equivalency ? Was this during the application process or at the interview ?

Bafanguy,

No, in my case I needed the evaluation/accreditation to transfer foreign credits to transfer and finish the degree here in the US. As long as it was a NACES approved organization nobody cared about who I chose. So maybe a different situation than the OP.

Sunrig,

Thanks. Understand. Your situation is a bit different from IllinoisDavidson's.

Absolutely correct, it’s a different situation. But the Legacies state that they want/ prefer an accredited degree. So an accredited degree by any NACES member should suffice. The problem is, that it is incredibly hard to get into touch with Legacy pilot recruitment/HR unless you already have an interview invitation. And that means you already made it through the computer firewall/ algorithm. My best bet would be going to a job fair and getting some face to face time and speak to the recruiters directly. There you would be able to clarify what is acceptable to them.

Amen to that !! It's hard to get questions answered if airlines don't explain it well enough in their public statements. And in addition to all the hurdles people have to jump to get that interview/job, people like IllinoisDavidson's husband get to jump one more.

One airline with which I'm familiar does mention the NACES requirement but offers no further explanation about how this requirement is properly handled by applicants in their system: Do it yourself with any NACES affiliate ? Do it with a company the airline prefers (gotta keep the airline HR people happy...feathers unruffled) ? Do it in the application process ? Do it if/when given an interview ?

It would only take a sentence or two to make life just a little bit easier for applicants and not make them guess. I suppose this doesn't get taken care of because there are so few people having to meet the requirement.

Thanks so much Sunrig for your quick reply and recommendation. You and bafanguy are correct. My husband is in a bit of a different situation than yours; however, a positive review from a fellow pilot of an accreditation company is better than nothing at all. I will definitely look into 'Transcript Research.'

I'm just curious, do you remember how long the process took Sunrig--from the moment you sent your documents to Transcript Research up to the point that you received the accreditation? Many companies advertise 2-3 weeks of processing time, but customer reviews describe months of waiting around and getting no response (the most common complaint so far). My husband (amonghtus) has just converted his license so he is definitely moving forward as quickly as possible with applying to pilot positions in the US.

I’m happy to help. I also got some useful information from these forums before I did the move from Europe. Regarding the timeline, I would say it was definitely within a month, something around three weeks. As I mentioned before, I picked Transcript Research randomly out of the approved NACES member list and was satisfied with the accreditation. I’m sure the other members will most probably do the same job. But don’t wait ( for the accreditation) to apply for any jobs as there’s a lot of hiring going on. The Big Six are supposed to hire 6000 pilots in 2020 and continue to do so the next years. So the earlier your husband gets in, the better will be his seniority progression. Feel free to ask more questions and let us know how the job hunt develops.

ID,

If you happen to lurk without signing in, check your PMs.

Don’t mean to steal the thread, but somewhat relevant- how would an Australian bachelor degree (3 year) be dealt with in the US? I know it needs to be accredited by a NACES approved organisation, however it seems a lot of carriers specifically ask for a 4 year bachelor.

is it possible to somehow do another year or get more credits to meet that requirement or would you have to start all over again.

I moved to the US with my partner a while ago and want to get all my ducks in a row for when things pick back up.

I have an Australian 3 year Bachelor Degree and it was evaluated and authenticated by WES (World Education Services) a member organization of NACES and was deemed equivalent to a 4 year US Bachelor’s degree. I was able to get hired at a legacy carrier that had a mandatory 4 year degree requirement.

Be aware though that not all NACES organizations will deem your 3 year Australian degree equivalent! The first company I used out of Florida, whose service was questionable, deemed my degree as only equivalent to 3 years of study. I was able to get a second opinion at the recommendation of a fellow Aussie and sent my documents to WES. It seems they were much more in tune with the Australian education system. So, if you have an Aussie 3 year degree, contact WES!

Thank you so much, harvs17!

exactly what I was looking for- appreciate that!