Foreign Transcripts and International Grades

When a student enrolls from a foreign country, the LEA must obtain copies of transcript(s) from the student’s previous school(s) in that country. If the transcript(s) must be translated, the LEA must utilize a translator/interpreter or translation/interpretation service to ensure that qualified courses from a foreign country are granted to the student. English courses may not be granted to the student as English in a foreign country would be considered a foreign language.

The criteria for accepting international transcripts from international students are a local decision based on local policy. Where there are questions about a particular course, LEAs may attempt to gather as much course information from the sending school, including course syllabi, standards, end-of-course assessment results, etc., to determine the course credits that are the best match. Match the course title as closely as possible to the Activity Coding Manual; however, if the course has no match in the state Activity Coding Manual, an “elective transfer credit” in the content area may be awarded for that course. 

International students may have a course credit that is awarded at honors weight. If so, the LEA may review supporting evidence to justify the honors weighting. The LEA may also apply the SC Honors Framework to the evidence provided by the student. 

Home school, private school, or out-of-state nonpublic school students shall have the opportunity to provide evidence of work to be considered for credit when transferring to a public school. The LEA shall have the right to evaluate evidence provided by the parent or student before transcribing the credit. If the evaluated evidence is insufficient, LEAs shall follow the option(s) defined in their LEA policy, which comply with options listed in the SC Uniform Grading Policy. The receiving school must also use the South Carolina Honors Framework criteria to evaluate such evidence and shall make the final decision on whether to award the said weighting. The SCDE advises LEAs to adopt a policy for accepting units of credit from home schools, private schools, or out-of-state nonpublic schools that is consistent with state regulation. 

For additional foreign transcript/international grade inquiries, please contact Laura McNair in the Office of College and Career Readiness at lmcnair@ed.sc.gov. 

“To accurately interpret the courses listed on a transcript, school counselors should review current and accurate information about the corresponding country’s education system. The NCAA created a helpful reference document to learn more about each country’s education system. Additionally, P.L. Grant and Associates offers materials, training, and guidance regarding international transcripts. Other potential resources include World Educational Services, New York City of Department of Education, and Central Intelligence Agency Website.

Upon request, the SCDE can provide a more detailed, in-depth Profile Snapshot (purchased from P.L. Grant and Associates) of the countries listed below to school districts to reference for no longer than one week. These materials are copyrighted and must not be shared, copied, scanned, photographed, etc. for any reason. To check out materials from the SCDE, please complete the Country Profile Snapshot Checkout Form. The specific Country Profile Snapshot requested will be shared with an expiration date to the materials and limited settings where downloading, printing, and sharing will be disabled. Country Profile Snapshots are helpful in evaluating the grading scales, hours-per-week (seat time), education system or U.S. grade level equivalents, instructional language, high school completion documents, and sample transcript evaluations. 

The list below consists of the Country Profile Snapshots that may be requested using the form.

• Afghanistan 

• Bahamas 

• Brazil 

• Cameroon 

• China 

• Costa Rica 

• Cuba

• Democratic Republic of Congo 

• Dominican Republic 

• Ecuador 

• El Salvador 

• France 

• Ghana 

• Guatemala 

• Haiti 

• Honduras 

• Jamaica 

• Jordan 

• Kazakhstan 

• Kenya 

• Mexico 

• Nicaragua 

• Nigeria 

• Panama

• Senegal

• Syrian Arab Republic

• Tanzania

• Venezuela