Validential

[Johann]

Alpha: "I'm guessing that there's some random Axact executive behind Validential." 
Johann: Have you ever known Axact to have a "random" anybody? And I don't think validating other people's documents at a couple of hundred dollars a pop would be a business model for them. Validating their own Axact diplomas at a couple of thou - more like it. 

Axact seems to have a lot of organizational skill. I wish they'd use some of it to put some order in the Pakistani Government. It sorely needs it.

[Alpha]

Alpha: "I'm guessing that there's some random Axact executive behind Validential." 
Johann: Have you ever known Axact to have a "random" anybody? And I don't think validating other people's documents at a couple of hundred dollars a pop would be a business model for them. Validating their own Axact diplomas at a couple of thou - more like it. 

Axact seems to have a lot of organizational skill. I wish they'd use some of it to put some order in the Pakistani Government. It sorely needs it.

Well, the fact is that I don't really know much about Axact, the structure of the organization, how many people work for them, all the places where they are located, etc.  I just think of them as a bunch of crooks who probably have their hands in all sort of illegal ventures.  Perhaps you're more of an expert on these matters and so if you want to assure me that Axact is not involved then I am happy to accept that as the truth.

[Johann]

Alpha: "I'm guessing that there's some random Axact executive behind Validential." 
Johann: Have you ever known Axact to have a "random" anybody? And I don't think validating other people's documents at a couple of hundred dollars a pop would be a business model for them. Validating their own Axact diplomas at a couple of thou - more like it. 

Axact seems to have a lot of organizational skill. I wish they'd use some of it to put some order in the Pakistani Government. It sorely needs it.

Well, the fact is that I don't really know much about Axact, the structure of the organization, how many people work for them, all the places where they are located, etc.  I just think of them as a bunch of crooks who probably have their hands in all sort of illegal ventures.  Perhaps you're more of an expert on these matters and so if you want to assure me that Axact is not involved then I am happy to accept that as the truth.

I'm no expert, but I took an interest when I became aware of the size and scope of their operations. Hundreds of "schools," many fake accreditors etc. At the risk of paying crooks a compliment -- they are very well organized. That's pretty obvious, even to a casual reader / observer. That's why I made my remark. 

Their home base is, of course, in Pakistan. But they have representation in other countries. In fact, one high-ranking  Axact employee was sentenced to prison in the US.  https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/pak...-mill-scam The collapse of all court proceedings against them in Pakistan proves, at least to me, that  they have somehow achieved immunity from prosecution in their home country. That  says something, to me.

This is an old NY Times article - 2015. But it is a good primer on Axact. They'll continue to be with us for a long time, I'm pretty sure. . https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world...rkley.html

Validential? Not in the same league. Not even close. 
[/quote]

[Validential]

From the Validential website:
"Membership

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]Validential is member 155004 of the Association of International Educators (NAFSA). Validential is also an Organizational Member of The Association for International Credential Evaluation Professionals, an Associate Member of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals, and a member of the European Association for International Education. Validential is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and holds an A rating.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_column_text]"

I'm not sure that any of that actually qualifies them to do what they're doing.  I took a minute and went to the TAICEP website and it seems that the only requirement for being an Organizational Member is to pay a $300.00 annual fee.

Validential has been completing foreign academic evaluations since late 2014, and I acquired the business in 2016 and have spent the intervening years retooling the platform to deliver a superior, consistent academic evaluation service to our clients, at the lowest price and with the fastest turnaround time (next day is standard). We rely on our considerable bench of experienced evaluators in this field, processing over ten thousand evaluations each year, and our evaluations are accepted nationwide (although some institutions do require to your their selected agency, so we recommend to always confirm before purchasing from any agency). Unlike other countries, the US (thankfully) takes a freemarket approach and does not stifle this particular industry with regulations. As a result, prices overall are lower, and service levels typically higher (although there are certainly some exceptions) than in other countries.

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Validential is a smart company, they have several websites that uses different domain names, these sites indicate they're a Validential site and the look/feel is very similar to Valedential.  Some of the website names are just one letter off other websites, but again, they all have the same menu tabs and 'about us' telling you they are Validential.  I think they have a huge client base or repeat customers that refer by word of mouth...

Just by googling a phrase on their site, you come up with several that has "Validential is ranked #1 in America for next day evaluations".  They aren't the "bottom of the barrel" of Academic Evaluation agencies, they're more of "middle of the road".  They are acceptable if your college, employment, or immigration agency accepts them.  I was able to find about 4 different sites including their flagship of the same name.

I'm the president of Validential, and my prior business was online advertising, so I understand the value of SEO. We have a network of websites (AcademicEvaluations.org; CredentialEvaluations.org, etc.) that are oriented towards the types of searches our clients conduct when looking for the services we provided. By deriving a portion of our traffic in this fashion from SEO instead of SEM, we're able to keep our marketing costs down, and pass the savings along to our clients in the form of lower prices. As you noted, we clearly identify on our sites that all services are provided by Validential.

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I have increasing doubts about the expertise of Validential evaluators. I was recently looking at a sample of a Canadian equivalency course-by-course evaluation. I was struck by the fact that they use terminology that would not normally be utilized by people who are competent in the intricacies of the Canadian system of higher education. In the sample "Canadian equivalency evaluation" that was conducted by Validential (see here; https://eiu.ac/u-s-canada-equivalency-samples/), the company refers to to "regionally accredited universities in Canada." This sounds odd to me, as there is no such thing as regional accreditation in Canada. Why would they use that kind of terminology?

Here is a nice explanation of the Canadian system:

"Use of the Term "Accredited"
Canada does not have a national or regional accreditation system for post-secondary institutions and therefore educational jurisdictions, except in some limited circumstances, do not normally employ the term "accredited" to denote provincially authorized or recognized institutions." (source: https://www.bccat.ca/system/quality)

They could have talked about recognized Canadian institutions of higher education.

How could you compare a foreign qualification to something that doesn't even exist in Canada?

Thanks for your comment! When our agency references an educational equivalence as compared to a 'regionally accredited institution', we do this in order to communicate to the reader that our clients' foreign studies have been compared to, and weighed against, comparable academic studies of authorized, degree-issuing institutions in the target country (in this case, Canada). While countries may (and often do) have different standards and vernacular related to how and what they call such accredited educational institutions, 'regionally accredited institution' is a standard term used in the academic evaluation industry that encapsulates those variances in a consistent way for the reader.

[openair]

I wonder how Validential will explain its new partnership with Selinus University, a university that isn't accredited in any country.

https://selinus.credentialevaluationservice.com/

This is coming from Selinus University's Facebook page (posted on January 13, 2023)

"PARTNERSHIP WITH “VALIDENTIAL” FOR USA CERTIFICATION

Selinus University has developed an important partnership with 'Validential'. Validential is a nationally recognised and accredited North American-based academic assessment agency, which feeds the largest US network of foreign academic assessment sites."

"Reference to international literature on academic assessment ensures that Selinus University graduates receive only the highest quality academic assessments, which are regularly accepted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and educational institutions and employers nationwide."

[Johann]

I wonder how Validential will explain its new partnership with Selinus University, a university that isn't accredited in any country.

https://selinus.credentialevaluationservice.com/

This is coming from Selinus University's Facebook page (posted on January 13, 2023)

"PARTNERSHIP WITH “VALIDENTIAL” FOR USA CERTIFICATION

Selinus University has developed an important partnership with 'Validential'. Validential is a nationally recognised and accredited North American-based academic assessment agency, which feeds the largest US network of foreign academic assessment sites."

"Reference to international literature on academic assessment ensures that Selinus University graduates receive only the highest quality academic assessments, which are regularly accepted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and educational institutions and employers nationwide."

Selinus is registered in Dominica as an International Business Corp. It is one of the schools known to some, as the "8 Copthall Crowd" -  a group of Universities registered as IBC's in an office at 8 Copthall, Roseau Dominica, On the other forum, I learned that the President of Selinus U. runs another University - Auream Phoenix University for Women, that offers a PhD. in Quantum Healing. That school is also registered at the 8 Copthall address.

The Selinus site also refers to evaluations by CUFCE. Plan B?

[bjcheung77]

Ouch, CUFCE is the bottom of the food chain of evaluation agencies, Validential is digging down that path with this update. They just dropped a notch from my view, I would stick with the main NACES members first and then AICE members if they are optional choices for evaluations.

[Johann]

Ouch, CUFCE is the bottom of the food chain of evaluation agencies, Validential is digging down that path with this update.  They just dropped a notch from my view, I would stick with the main NACES members first and then AICE members if they are optional choices for evaluations.

Now you're talkin'. That'd be my choice, too. 

[bjcheung77]

I just did a quick search and the ENEB thread showed a few states accepted Validential foreign credential evaluation...
Curiously, I did a google search and poof, up came the same ones mentioned, and more community colleges too!

I noticed a private college in California accepts them: https://www.unitekcollege.edu/admissions/requirements/
1) Dallas College does too: https://www.dallascollege.edu/admissions...tials.aspx
2) Houston CC also does: https://www.hccs.edu/support-services/in...edentials/
3) San Jacinto CC (2021) https://www.sanjac.edu/sites/default/fil...s-6-21.pdf

Illinois Revised - May 22, 2023 - https://www.isbe.net/Documents/foreign-c...l-svcs.pdf
Louisiana Revised – April 27, 2023 - https://www.teachlouisiana.net/pdf/Forei...encies.pdf
University of Arizona (CUCFE shows in the list!) - https://www.uagc.edu/partnerships/corpor...ional/faqs
Note: CUCFE is the bottom of the barrel, sadly, it seems UofA takes practically any recommendation

[eLearner]

I just did a quick search and the ENEB thread showed a few states accepted Validential foreign credential evaluation...
Curiously, I did a google search and poof, up came the same ones mentioned, and more community colleges too!

I noticed a private college in California accepts them: https://www.unitekcollege.edu/admissions/requirements/
1) Dallas College does too: https://www.dallascollege.edu/admissions...tials.aspx
2) Houston CC also does: https://www.hccs.edu/support-services/in...edentials/
3) San Jacinto CC (2021) https://www.sanjac.edu/sites/default/fil...s-6-21.pdf

Illinois Revised - May 22, 2023 - https://www.isbe.net/Documents/foreign-c...l-svcs.pdf
Louisiana Revised – April 27, 2023 - https://www.teachlouisiana.net/pdf/Forei...encies.pdf
University of Arizona (CUCFE shows in the list!) - https://www.uagc.edu/partnerships/corpor...ional/faqs
Note: CUCFE is the bottom of the barrel, sadly, it seems UofA takes practically any recommendation

Can add these to the list as well:

Oakwood University: https://oakwood.edu/wp-content/uploads/2...ons_Fx.pdf

Claflin University: https://www.claflin.edu/admissions-aid/f...ns-(faq's)

National Aviation Academy: https://www.naa.edu/admissions/international-student

Ultimate Health School: https://www.ultimatehealthschool.com/page-not-found

Alvin CC: https://catalog.alvincollege.edu/content...nto=search

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There are a lot of schools and institutions that accept Validential, it's just not advertised. Take Virginia University of Lynchburg for instance. We have a member here who was accepted into their Doctoral program based on a Validential evaluation, VUL just doesn't mention them as an accepted evaluator on their website.

Validential gets flak for some of the evaluation decisions they've made, but every evaluator has had some doozies. WES is the biggest and most respected (despite the fact that they suck), and they've certainly turned out a number of horrible evaluation decisions. Knowledge and common sense is going to vary not just from evaluation firm to evaluation firm, but also from one evaluator to another working under the same roof. That's just the way it is.