Immigrants with high school diplomas or college credits from other countries are invited to have those diplomas or credits evaluated at Northern Essex Community College’s Lawrence Campus, El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St, on Monday, June 20 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Northern Essex is offering this service in partnership with the Center for Education Documentation (CED) of Boston.

“We’re interested in talking with students who have attained high school diplomas from another country and want to apply to college in the United States and with immigrants who have college credits or a full degree from a college or university outside the United States and want to continue their education here or professionals who wish to validate their credentials,” said Analuz Garcia, Lawrence campus and community relations assistant at NECC.

At the June 20 event, representatives from CED will give a short presentation, explaining their evaluation process.  Daniel Richer, NECC’s director of admissions, will also discuss opportunities available at NECC, including PIÉS Latinos at NECC, a new initiative created to increase higher education attainment among immigrants living in Greater Lawrence and beyond.  Those interested in evaluations are asked to bring their high school diploma, college degrees and or transcripts from another country to the event to begin the evaluation process. If the documents are in Spanish, Portuguese or French, they do not need to be notarized or translated to English. Staff will be on hand to assist with questions.

General evaluations are $80 and a course by course evaluation is $130.

This event kicks off NECC’s partnership with CED.  In the future, students educated abroad will be able to submit transcripts at the NECC Career Planning and Advising Center (CPAC), also located in the El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St., Lawrence.

PIÉS Latinos de NECC was created to increase higher education attainment among Latino immigrants living in Greater Lawrence.  PIÉS will focus on helping immigrants validate and transfer foreign credits to NECC and other colleges in Massachusetts and validate their foreign degrees with job training.  PIÉS will also provide support for Latinos outside the U.S. interested in attending college in the U.S.

The Center for Educational Documentation provides professional assistance in interpreting the educational background of persons educated abroad.  Advisory statements on educational equivalency are prepared on request for colleges and universities, professional associations, government agencies, and public school systems.

For more information and application forms, please contact Analuz Garcia at 978 738-7423, agarcia@necc.mass.edu, or Hilce Cassanelli at 978 738-7402, hcassanelli@necc.mass.edu.