Recognition of higher education degrees acquired abroad for Colombia

The validation of higher education degrees is the recognition process that the Ministry of National Education provides to those documents recognized as higher education degrees granted by a legally authorized institution in the country of origin.

The recognition allows the same academic and legal effects in Colombia as the degrees granted by Colombian higher education institutions.

The validation of higher education degrees is not mandatory in all cases, however, it is quite useful in employment processes.

It is also possible to validate any higher education degree, such as technicians, technologists, undergraduates, high school graduates, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, medical specialties and doctorates.

These programs must be completed and duly apostilled or legalized, as well as translated into Spanish if they are in a different language.

For this particular article we will focus exclusively on the recognition of higher education degrees acquired abroad.

Process of validation of higher education degrees

1. Legalize or apostille your diploma, depending on the country where it was issued (You can check the countries that have signed the apostille agreement here). If it is in a language other than Spanish, it must also be translated (the translation should not be apostilled).
2. Enter the Ministry of Education page at CONVALIDACIONES and register.
3. Enter the system with the data provided and in the option CREATE enter CONVALIDATION.
4. Select the type of validation to be performed: undergraduate or graduate.
5. Fill in the information of the institution that granted the degree to be validated, the information of the studies to be validated and the contact information in Colombia,
6. Attach the previously digitalized documents.
7. File the validation request by clicking on the RADICATE button.
8. Print the proof of filing that the system will generate.
9. Once it is confirmed that the documents are complete, the payment button will be enabled in the VUMEN platform. You will be notified of this activation by e-mail.
10. If it is identified that the documents are not complete, you will be asked to complete the information to continue with the process.
11. Review of the legality of the documentation.
12. Verification of the applicable validation criteria (accreditation or recognition / administrative precedent / academic evaluation).
13. Decision by administrative act.
14. Notification to the applicant.

General requirements

These requirements must be digitized in order to be entered into the platform.

• Photocopy of citizenship card, foreigner’s card or valid passport.
• Photocopy of identity card.
• Photocopy of the degree to be validated. Duly legalized or apostilled in the country of origin. To validate graduate degrees, you must attach your undergraduate degree if you are a national student or your undergraduate degree validation resolution if you are an international student.
• Certificate of Qualifications.
• Title to be validated.
• Certificate of grades of the program to which the degree to be validated corresponds, duly legalized or apostilled in the country of origin.

Special requirements

They depend on the career you have studied. The following are some of them

Accounting Degrees

For the validation of undergraduate higher education degrees in accounting, specific studies must be accredited in:

• Commercial, tax and labor law.
• Accounting standards and concepts on International Financial Reporting Standards – IFRS.
• These studies must be completed, approved and certified by a Colombian institution of higher education that has a Public Accounting program with a current qualified registration.

Law Degrees

For validation of undergraduate higher education degrees in law, accredit specific studies in:

• Colombian Constitutional Law.
• Administrative Law.
• Special Civil, Administrative, Criminal and Labor Litigation.
• These studies must be completed, approved and certified by a Colombian institution of higher education that has a law program with a current qualified registration.

Health Titles

For validation of higher education degrees in health, the following must be accredited:

• Curriculum for both undergraduate and graduate degrees in health.

For undergraduate degrees:

• Certification of completion of the rotating internship, duly legalized or apostilled.

For graduate degrees:

1. a) Surgical or consultation record issued by the entities or institutions authorized to develop academic or assistance activities in the area of health care.
2. b) Documents accrediting academic and assistance activities.

Costs and duration

The amount paid for the validation of undergraduate degrees is $696,993 COP and for graduate degrees $792,003 COP. Payment can be made through PSE and the process will take between 60 to 180 calendar days.

Criteria for the recognition of higher education degrees

The three criteria taken into account for the recognition of higher education degrees are accreditation or recognition, administrative precedent and academic evaluation. We will now proceed to explain each of the criteria.

Accreditation or recognition

When all general requirements have been met and it is verified that the institution and/or academic program is accredited by a recognized accreditation agency in the country of origin of the degree. In some countries it is understood as accreditation and in others as recognition.

Administrative precedent.

This criterion is applied when the degree to be validated is similar to others already validated and the following requirements are also met.

• Same academic program (name; contents; total hourly load of the academic program; duration of the academic periods; and modality).
• The degree must have been awarded by the same educational institution.
• There must be at least 3 academic evaluations in the same sense (denomination, contents, total hourly load of the academic program, duration of the academic periods and methodology).
• There must not be a difference of more than 4 years between the date of granting of the degree to be validated and at least one of the three academic evaluations that constitute a precedent.

Academic evaluation

In this criterion, the National Intersectoral Commission for Quality Assurance in Higher Education – CONACES or the evaluating body that the Ministry of National Education designates for this purpose, studies, evaluates and issues a concept on the academic training acquired abroad by the applicant, in relation to the programs offered in the national territory, which allows or denies the recognition of the degree through a comprehensive technical analysis, in which aspects such as the following are evaluated i) contents; ii) time load of the academic program; iii) duration of the academic periods; and, iv) modality. When the degree to be validated does not fall within the criteria of accreditation or recognition and administrative precedent, the academic evaluation criterion is applied. In the case of degrees in the health area, these are advanced exclusively under the academic evaluation criteria.

In addition to this information, we recommend you to review the following checklist made by the Ministry of Education, which you will find in this link

Cybergraphy:

https://www.mineducacion.gov.co/portal/convalidaciones/Convalidaciones-Educacion-Superior/355353:Preguntas-Frecuentes