­­Academic Documentation Requirements for International Graduate Applicants

International graduate applicants to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who have studied at an institution outside of the U.S. must submit their academic credentials for review. We may then verify the documents and perform a course-by-course analysis to convert grades and credits to the UTC equivalents.

UTC recognizes and endorses transcript evaluations that are conducted by well-established entities such as WES(, ECE, and SpanTran (application link) . For these evaluations to be accepted, they must be official documents sent directly from these companies. Students must submit the official documents from these companies with the official transcripts from the original institution. UTC maintains its own set of documentation procedures that go hand in hand with third-party evaluations.

Please read the following information before submitting your documents.

UTC requires the following documents for evaluation:

1. Original or attested photocopy of degree certificate

   • IMPORTANT:

     • The certificate must list the name of the degree and date of conferral.

     • All documents become University property and are not returnable nor forwardable to other institutions. Do not submit an original document if it is your only copy.

2. Complete and official transcript for each year of undergraduate and/or graduate study from all institutions attended

   • IMPORTANT: Transcripts (statements of marks/mark sheets) should contain ALL grades earned by the student, including failed and retaken courses.

Submission guidelines (see below for exceptions):

1. Documents must be stamped and sealed by the proper official (e.g. registrar, controller of examinations, etc.) within the issuing institution. UTC may not accept documents attested by professors or external notary public.
2. Documents should be submitted in a sealed, unopened envelope from the issuing institution. UTC cannot verify documents which have been handled by the applicant.
   • NOTE: If a student attended an affiliated college but received a degree from a university, documents should come from the degree-granting university.
3. Documents should be mailed to: 

Credential Evaluation Services
International Graduate Admissions, Center for Global Education
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Dept. 4755
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA 37403-2504

Additional concerns:

• Application fee — Students must pay the online application fee before their credentials may be reviewed.

• Translations — If your academic documents were not issued in English, please submit the official documents in the original language AND a literal (word-for-word) translation which follows the format of the original document. The translation must come from the issuing institution, a certified translation agency, the Ministry of Education or equivalent government body, or an embassy.
• Digital submissions — UTC cannot verify documents received by email (see below for exceptions). However, we may begin a course-by-course analysis on these documents. If a student submits transcripts by email, an admissions decision may not be reached until UTC has received the required official documents in the mail.

• Fraud — Any student found to have gained admission through the evaluation of fraudulent or incomplete documentation will be terminated as a UTC student. This decision may not be appealed.

Exceptions:

• To account for document procurement challenges related to political unrest, refugee status, natural disaster, etc., UTC may, on a case-by-case basis, modify or partially waive the requirements listed above.
• Students applying through educational consulting agencies with which UTC partners may be admitted based on the evaluation of digitally submitted documents once the issuing institution has provided electronic verification. 

For information about the credential evaluation process, contact our International Credential Evaluator and Communication Specialist, Jill Williams. 

For all other admissions-related questions, contact our International Graduate Student Advisor, Lora Cook.