Diploma Translation

Prism Language Solutions translates diplomas and degree certificates into English and certifies them in the word-for-word format that World Education Services, Educational Credential Evaluators, university admissions offices and state licensing boards ask for. The degree title stays as the university wrote it, every seal and signature is rendered, and a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy is attached. A one-page diploma is usually back within 24 hours from around $24.95 per page, sent as a PDF you can upload or as a sealed hard copy where the recipient wants one.

Last reviewed September 11, 2026 by Sarah J, Prism Language Solutions

• Certified translations prepared to meet USCIS requirements
• Human linguists only, matched to the subject
• Fixed written quote within 60 minutes in business hours
• One office in New York, linguists in every state

Diploma Translation for WES and ECE Credential Evaluation

WES requires an exact, word-for-word translation of every document not issued in English, completed by a professional translator; it does not accept translations by the applicant. Translations are not sealed documents: you upload them from your WES account as a PDF, alongside a copy of the degree certificate, while the academic transcript has to reach WES directly from the institution or in a sealed envelope. ECE takes the same word-for-word standard, though it allows applicants to prepare their own and sells an $85 Translation Waiver for people who would rather ECE translated in-house. Either way the evaluator compares the translation to the original line by line, so ours mirrors the layout: seal where the seal is, signature block where the signatures are.

Diploma Translation for University Admission

Admissions offices that evaluate in-house want the same thing the evaluators do, plus a delivery format of their own: some accept an uploaded PDF, some want the translation mailed by the translator, a few want it inside the institution's sealed envelope. Tell us the university and the program, and we deliver the way they specify. The translation itself follows one rule: the credential is named as issued, with the English gloss in brackets only where a reader would otherwise be lost. Chinese graduates hold two documents, a graduation certificate and a separate degree certificate, and WES wants the degree verified through the Ministry of Education's CSSD (formerly CHESICC) before it looks at either; we translate both and the verification report (Chinese translation). Indian applicants often have a provisional certificate before the convocation degree arrives, and WES accepts either with the mark sheets (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu). Universities and school districts that receive a steady flow of these are on the education page.

Diploma Translation for Licensing Boards and Employers

State boards rarely read a foreign diploma themselves. Engineering boards send candidates through the NCEES Credentials Evaluation, which asks for literal English translations from a translation service with the translator's written certification of competence and accuracy. Nursing boards generally route foreign-educated nurses through a CGFNS (now TruMerit) credentials evaluation before the NCLEX, and other professions have their own evaluators. Employers and immigration petitions built on a degree, such as an H-1B or an employment-based green card, usually rely on a credential evaluation as well, and the evaluator wants the translated diploma behind it. In every case the translation is the raw material and the evaluation is the product; a translation that has already "converted" the degree gets in the evaluator's way. Employers who simply need to read the document get the same certified translation, priced the same.

Degree Names on a Diploma Translation

A few examples of what stays as issued, and why.

• Licenciatura and título profesional (Mexico and much of Latin America). The título is the university's degree document; the cédula profesional is the license number issued by the SEP's Dirección General de Profesiones, electronic since 2018. They are two documents, and we label each as what it is rather than calling either a "bachelor's degree" (Spanish translation).
• Diplom spetsialista (Russia and the former Soviet republics). A five-year first degree with no direct US equivalent. It is translated as "Diploma of Specialist" with the field, never as a master's; the prilozhenie k diplomu (diploma supplement) with the grades is translated separately (Russian, Ukrainian).
• Graduation certificate and degree certificate (China). Two documents with two different meanings: completion of the program, and award of the degree. Collapsing them into one "diploma" loses information the evaluator needs.
• Provisional certificate and degree certificate (India). The provisional certificate is issued before the convocation degree. We title it as provisional, because an evaluator who sees "degree certificate" on a provisional will ask for the real one.
• Bilingual Philippine and Indian diplomas. Where the credential is already in English, we translate only what is not and certify the whole page (Tagalog).

Sealed Delivery and Hard Copies for Diploma Translation

Most recipients now take a PDF, and WES in particular expects you to upload the translation yourself. Some universities and boards still want the translator to send it, and a few want a signed hard copy in a sealed envelope with the translator's stamp across the flap. We do all three: emailed PDF as standard; a printed, wet-signed copy by tracked mail on request; and direct dispatch to the recipient with the reference number they gave you on the envelope. If the diploma itself needs an apostille for use abroad, or a notarized certificate for a board that asks, see apostille translation and notarized translation.

Diploma Translation Cost and Turnaround

A one-page diploma or degree certificate is certified from around $24.95 per page as a US market guide; the signed certificate and a second linguist's review are included in that figure. A diploma supplement or a transcript is priced per page or per word depending on density; a sealed hard copy adds about $10 to $20 plus postage. The pricing page has the wider ranges.

Send a clear scan of the diploma, front and back if the back carries a registration number or stamp, plus your passport page so the name is spelled to match. Say which evaluator, university or board it is for and whether they want it uploaded, mailed or sealed. Expect a one-page diploma back the next business day, often sooner. The general certificate format is described on the certified translation page.

Questions we get asked