Frequently Asked Questions

As of January 2026, you can expect to pay a minimum of $220 USD for a completed WES evaluation. Below is the cost breakdown:

• Document-by-Document ICAP: $171 USD
• Standard Delivery: $14 USD
• Duplicate Report: $35 USD

All fees are subject to change. Please refer to the WES website for current fees.

You should not be required to pay for more than one WES evaluation. If your degree is currently in progress, please refer to the corresponding questions further down on this page.

We are unable to provide financial support to cover the cost of your WES evaluation. Please bear in mind that the evaluation has lifetime value in case you need to use it for future employment, further education, etc.

Some graduate programs provide a one-time stipend to new international students to assist with fees and costs associated with their international status — if applicable, this would be listed in your offer letter from the graduate program.

Please request your WES evaluation as soon as possible (no later than July 1*) and indicate the status of your bachelor’s degree as Completed. Your evaluation will remain on hold until your degree is completed, at which point your institution will need to send the required official documents to WES verifying the conferral of your bachelor’s degree.

If your bachelor’s degree will be conferred after July 1*, we can matriculate your record for autumn quarter if all of the following conditions are met:

• Your WES evaluation request is submitted by July 1* with Stanford Graduate Admissions listed as a recipient.
• Your most recent official transcript (as of July 1) is sent directly by your institution to Graduate Admissions.
• Your account will have an enrollment hold for winter quarter until we receive your completed WES evaluation certifying equivalency of your academic credentials to a U.S. bachelor’s degree or higher.

You should not be required to pay for more than one WES evaluation, as you only need to submit the completed WES evaluation once after your bachelor’s degree is conferred.

*Important Note on Timing: WES charges a reactivation fee for applications that remain incomplete 180 days (approximately 6 months) after the payment date of the original application. To avoid this additional fee, we recommend requesting your credential evaluation no earlier than 3 months prior to your anticipated degree conferral date to allow sufficient time for your degree conferral document to be received and evaluated by WES within the 6-month window. If your anticipated degree conferral date falls after October 1, please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions to discuss your options.

No. While we prefer all international credentials to be verified by WES, we will accept official transcripts and degree documents sent directly by the institution for education completed beyond the minimum requirement of a U.S. bachelor’s degree.* Note that if you are required to complete a WES evaluation for your bachelor’s degree, there is no additional cost charged by WES to include your graduate-level credentials.

*If the institution where you completed graduate-level work is located in the People's Republic of China, we require your transcript and degree certificate to be verified by the China Credentials Verification agency (CSSD).

Please arrange for your official, in-progress graduate transcript to be sent as soon as possible, as long as it reflects coursework completed as of the time you applied to Stanford. After you are matriculated, we will require a final official transcript with proof of degree conferral only if this is the qualifying degree that was the basis for not being required to submit TOEFL/IELTS scores during the application process.

You do not need to arrange for your official Stanford transcript to be sent to us, as we have access to verify your Stanford enrollment and degree conferral internally. Any Stanford transcripts on your Matriculation Checklist will be marked as Waived within one week after accepting the offer of admission.

If you are a current or former graduate student at Stanford, you also do not need to arrange for any official documents to be sent from institutions attended prior to Stanford, as we would have received these documents when you first enrolled at Stanford.

Please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions to discuss potential options for your situation.

The expected processing time upon receipt of the document is up to 1 week for electronic documents and up to 2 weeks for physical documents. If your Matriculation Checklist still has not been updated after this point, please submit a ticket to Graduate Admissions.

All official transcripts and degree conferral documents sent to Graduate Admissions become the property of Stanford University once we receive them. We are unable to accommodate student requests to access physical or electronic official transcripts received by our office.

Yes. There are no exceptions to this requirement.

No. This requirement is based on the highest valid score on your record at the time of application.

After you accept the offer of admission, click on the checklist item on your status page labeled Submit English Proficiency Documentation. This item will appear only if additional documentation is required.

The form will prompt you to upload supporting documentation confirming that English is the language of instruction of your program at the institution you listed above. If your institution offers instruction in languages other than English, this must be an official statement from the institution certifying that your program was taught exclusively in English. You should also provide your most recent transcript from this institution if it was not included in your application.

After you accept the offer of admission, click on the checklist item on your status page labeled Submit English Proficiency Documentation.

The form will prompt you to enter the contact information for a direct supervisor, manager, or other authorized representative who can verify your professional experience in English. Upon submitting this form, your reference will receive an email request with a link to complete a brief verification form, which will be reviewed by the Graduate Admissions team.