Are degrees from a UK university typically accepted in American academia?

Answer 1

US colleges and universities seldom get involved in direct evaluation of foreign transcripts and credits completed within a program of study. They usually leave the primary evaluation to recognized evaluation agencies who evaluate an individual's course work and equate the completed course work to US credits. For example, the most widely used evaluation agency on the US eastern coast is the World Education Service (WES) in New York. This is not a guarantee the credits found equivalent to US credit standards by the agency will be accepted to all US colleges and universities. The amount of transfer credit will now be particular to each institution and their specific transfer policies and regulations. Many times, while the course content is found equivalent, the credit hours differ. In another words, a general psychology course with the same course content taken in another county for 2.5 credit hours will not be accepted by a US college or university where that same course is three credit hours. Thus, it depends on the initial evaluation by the agency, followed by the final evaluation of the college or university. All in all, based on my experience, the work completed within the general education area should not be a problem. If your work includes a professional clinical phase, that would be much more difficult.

Answer 2

Typically yes, however many schools as well as employers may require validation and equivalency of the degree by an official evaluation agency within the US. For example, the most widely used academic evaluation agency on the east coast of the US, is the World Education Service (WES) located in New York City.