Getting Colombian Transcripts and Degrees Evaluated for US Admission
By Muntasir • Published Sep 18, 2026 • Updated Sep 18, 2026
US schools read your Colombian records against a NACES member evaluation, since Colombia grades on a 0.0 to 5.0 scale where 3.0 is the minimum pass. Order a course-by-course evaluation as soon as you have your final transcript, processing takes several weeks.
🎓 Diploma de Bachiller equals a US high school diploma.
📩 A completed Título Profesional, four to five years, equals a US bachelor's degree for most evaluators.
💵 A course-by-course evaluation converts each subject and grade, not only the final degree title.
⏱️ Start early, evaluations and certified translations both take time.
How the Colombian system maps to US credentials
Colombian schooling runs five years of primaria, then básica secundaria and educación media, ending in grade 11 with a diploma de bachiller. US evaluators generally read this diploma as equivalent to a US high school diploma, according to Scholaro's Colombia grading system profile .
Colombian universities award a título profesional, commonly four to five years, for fields like engineering, business, or law, and a licenciatura for teaching degrees. Most NACES evaluators treat a completed título profesional as equivalent to a US bachelor's degree. A técnico or tecnólogo credential from a shorter vocational program usually maps to partial credit or an associate-level equivalency, evaluators decide this case by case.
Colombian credentials and their common US equivalent
| Colombian credential | Typical US equivalent |
|---|---|
| Diploma de Bachiller | High school diploma |
| Técnico / Tecnólogo | Partial college credit or associate-level, case by case |
| Título Profesional (4-5 years) | Bachelor's degree |
| Especialización | Graduate certificate or part of a master's, varies by evaluator |
| Maestría | Master's degree |
| Doctorado | Doctoral degree (PhD) |
Treat this table as a starting point, not a guarantee. Each NACES member evaluator applies its own methodology, and the final equivalency on your report is what your target school will use.
Understand the grading scale before you estimate a GPA
Colombian schools and universities grade on a 0.0 to 5.0 scale, with 3.0 as the minimum passing grade at most institutions, according to Scholaro. This is not a percentage and does not map one-to-one onto a US 4.0 scale, so let the evaluator run the conversion rather than estimating it yourself on an admissions form. A Colombian average of 4.5, for example, sits well above the passing line and should not be listed anywhere as "4.5 out of 5" without that context, since US readers default to assuming a 4.0 scale.
What a NACES member evaluation involves
NACES sets standards for foreign credential evaluators in the US, and its member organizations, not NACES itself, perform the evaluations, according to NACES . Two report types matter for admissions: a document-by-document evaluation, which confirms the credential and its US equivalent, and a course-by-course evaluation, which lists every subject with a converted US grade and credit value. Graduate programs and schools reviewing your GPA closely usually want the course-by-course version.
To order one, submit certified copies of your diploma de bachiller or título profesional and your certificado de notas, plus a certified English translation if the evaluator does not translate in-house. Check your target school's admissions page first, some accept a report from any NACES member, others name a specific service.
Timeline and what slows it down
Start the evaluation as soon as you have your final transcript, ideally the same month you request recommendation letters. Processing takes several weeks once the evaluator has complete documents, and rush service is not available everywhere. The most common delay is an incomplete academic record: Colombian universities sometimes issue transcripts per semester rather than one cumulative document, so confirm with your registrar's office what counts as an official transcript before you request it.
If your Colombian school was bilingual or IB
A growing number of Colombian secondary schools run bilingual or International Baccalaureate tracks alongside the standard diploma de bachiller. If your school issued an IB diploma or a bilingual certificate in addition to the standard Colombian diploma, submit both, evaluators and admissions officers read the additional credential as extra evidence of readiness, not a replacement for the diploma de bachiller itself.
If you already completed some university credit
Students who studied at a Colombian university before transferring, or who completed a técnico or tecnólogo program, still need an evaluation, since US schools use it to decide how much transfer credit to award. Course-by-course evaluations matter more here than for first-time freshman applicants, since the school compares each completed course against its own catalog. The school, not the evaluator, makes the final transfer credit decision, the evaluation is only the input.
Where to find a NACES member evaluator
NACES publishes a member directory on its own site, and most member organizations list Colombia among the countries they evaluate. Compare turnaround time, price, and whether the evaluator translates in-house before you choose, requirements and speed vary between member organizations even though all meet the same NACES membership standard.
Send it where it needs to go
Evaluators send the report directly to the university or to you, depending on the school's instructions. Keep a digital copy for your own SEVIS and visa file too, since some consular officers ask to see your academic background alongside the I-20 during the visa interview.