WES Blog

How might a new philanthropy with $30 million in seed funding build on years of experience working with refugee, immigrant, and international student communities? How can philanthropic capital be more strategically allocated to unlock economic opportunity among underserved populations? How could a new grantmaking organization operate in an intentional way to disrupt power imbalances between grantors […]

Immigrants and refugees make up nearly 20% of Nevada’s population, and a full quarter of the state’s workforce. Yet of the state’s 87,200 immigrant and refugee workers with a four-year degree or higher, nearly 40% are unemployed or underemployed – the result of systemic barriers like limited credential recognition and uneven access to career navigation […]

Planning to order a WES credential evaluation? If you’re looking to pursue the next chapter in your life in the United States or Canada, a WES credential evaluation report will support your post-secondary school and job applications. Keep reading to get answers to frequently asked questions about WES credential evaluations:   What is a WES reference number? How do I obtain one?  A WES reference number is generated once you submit your application along with full […]

When a cohort of Louisville-based organizations joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2017, the region had 30,000 open jobs – 9,000 requiring post-secondary training – and not enough workers to fill them. Local leaders from the Louisville Metro Government Office for Globalization (now called the Louisville Metro Government’s Office for Immigrant Affairs), KentuckianaWorks, […]

Written by Shevani Khatri, U.S. Program Associate Enver Latifzade, a key volunteer and leader for the community-based nonprofit RUSA LGBTQ+ (RUSA), came to New York City in 2014 from Uzbekistan seeking asylum as a result of increased homophobia in his home country. RUSA’s mission is to support New York City’s Eurasian LGBTQ+ population. While he was […]

Let’s talk about why a credential evaluation report could be a useful tool. A credential evaluation can help you make full use of the skills, training, and education you received in the Philippines.  It allows organizations such as academic institutions, licensing boards, and employers to compare your degree and credentials to U.S. or Canadian educational […]

Written by: Ani Gurtsishvili, Canada Program Associate South Vancouver Neighbourhood House (SVNH) is a community-based organization offering programs and services in the South Vancouver catchment. Despite its rich cultural tapestry, South Vancouver has historically lacked equitable resource allocation and representation. With more than 80 percent of its residents being racialized individuals and families, SVNH saw an urgency […]

World Education Services (WES) today announced an investment in 8B Education Investments, a social fintech company specializing in supporting African students to attend global universities. 8B facilitates fair student loan financing and support services.    WES’ catalytic investment will help 8B unlock additional student loan capital from its banking partners to bring education finance to African students at scale. […]

Have you ever wondered how the credential evaluation process works? In this article, we’ll explain what happens once we receive your documents for evaluation. Stage 1: Document Imaging  When your documents arrive at WES, they are carefully reviewed and scanned into our system. In many cases, we can accept electronic documents directly from your academic […]

Nebraska has a long history as a leading refugee resettlement state, and the recent years have been no exception. In 2019, Lincoln’s New Americans Task Force (NATF) and Employ LNK partnered to join the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) with the goal of expanding and building systems to better support the inclusion of individuals with […]

FAQs: After You Receive Your WES Credential Evaluation  Have you received a notification that your credential evaluation is complete? Congratulations! Now you are ready to start sharing your report with your future school, employer, or licensing board.   After you receive your WES credential evaluation, you might wonder how you can make full use of it […]

In 2009, Dr. Islam moved to New York City from Bangladesh. Straightaway, he was struck by the lack of opportunities to work in medicine or in a health care role that made use of his skills and experience. Despite graduating from one of the top medical schools in Bangladesh and working there as a physician, he became […]

Written by Lei Ma, U.S. Senior Program Associate  Since the WES Mariam Assefa Fund launched in 2019 with a mission to catalyze economic and social inclusion for immigrants and refugees, we knew that our work needed to adopt an intersectional lens, as people’s multiple identities interconnect and can compound the effects of racism and inequity. […]

Continuing a 100-year legacy of championing local immigrants and refugees, the International Institute of Buffalo (IIB) joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2019 with a goal to better serve a growing yet largely underserved community: immigrants and refugees with education, training, and credentials earned in other countries.    As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo’s […]

  Once you order a credential evaluation, you will need to have your academic institution submit your required documents to WES. A review of your required documents is an essential part of the evaluation process. This crucial step needs to be completed before we can begin evaluating your credentials. That’s why it is a good idea to understand the requirements before beginning […]

The United States has seen a significant uptick in the number of individuals seeking asylum within its borders, with over 150,000 arriving in New York City alone just in the past year and a half. With nearly half a million job openings throughout New York State, immigrants and refugees potentially have many opportunities to contribute […]

Today, Mirriam Mutemba Mbanga is a registered nurse at the Ministry of Health Zambia. But as a child, she dreamed of moving away from her home country. To hear about what motivates Mirriam, and how she hopes a WES credential evaluation will help her achieve her goals, keep reading. Reaching Milestones Inspired by her mother’s […]

A growing number of institutions worldwide are making their academic records available in a digital or electronic format. World Education Services (WES) now partners with institutions to accept electronic documents in a secure format from official, verified sources. Sending documents electronically can expedite the completion of your credential evaluation. It is the most secure, most […]

  The United States faces growing health care workforce shortages, which are only expected to increase in the coming decade with projections estimating a national shortfall of over 900,000 nurses and up to 124,000 physicians by the year 2030. To address this issue, analysts and policymakers have begun looking to immigrants and refugees with health […]

After decades of welcoming newcomers to their programs, Idaho’s Global Talent and Utah’s One Refugee determined that a collaborative approach to immigrant and refugee workforce inclusion would bolster their efforts in the region. They joined the WES Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2018 as co-leads of a cohort including the Church of Jesus Christ […]