Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about EduAtlas and our services.
Every year, millions of students, families, and educators worldwide face invisible walls: unfamiliar systems, unclear grades, unreadable transcripts, and costly private evaluations, making international mobility a barrier. EduAtlas was created to remove those walls.
With EduAtlas, you can now understand how universities work anywhere, compare grading systems, check degree compatibility, and convert your academic transcript from one country to another—all for free. No paywalls. No intermediaries. You do it from home—as a student, parent, or educator.
EduAtlas was developed within a doctoral research program at Westcliff University by an international scholar and is grounded in rigorous academic research. It is supported by international validation and growing institutional trust—making EduAtlas not just a tool, but a credible global reference for education without borders.
EduAtlas works through four simple core operations.
With Explore Education Systems, you can select any country and immediately understand how its university system works: how many years are required to access university, the length of a bachelor’s degree, how credits are structured and valued, how grades work, and how equivalencies are defined.
With Compare Grades, you can place two countries side by side and understand how university grading systems relate to each other through a standardized 5-tier international scale, created to support clear and shared academic understanding.
With Check Degree Compatibility, you can compare two full education systems—such as China and Egypt—to identify similarities and differences, supporting informed academic mobility, dual degrees, and joint academic projects.
With Convert Your Transcript, EduAtlas’ core feature, you can generate a converted academic record for another country. By inserting your courses in the original language (automatically translated via AI, or in English when needed), EduAtlas converts credits, grades, and course structures—allowing you to move globally with a document that clearly represents your academic path, anywhere in the world.
What information can I find on EduAtlas, and how do I interpret it?
EduAtlas provides access to four key operations. By selecting the countries you are interested in, EduAtlas shows you:
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Years of compulsory schooling before university
You can see how many years of education are required before entering a bachelor’s degree in each country.
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Degree duration
You can understand how long it takes to complete a bachelor’s degree in a specific country.
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Credits
You can see how many credits are required per year and in total to obtain a bachelor’s degree, as well as the real value of one credit. For example, one credit in France corresponds to 25–30 hours of work, while in China it corresponds to 16 hours.
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Grades
EduAtlas uses a standardized international 5-tier scale to show what it means to fail, pass, or excel in a program. For example, 18 is the minimum passing grade in Italy, while 9 is the minimum passing grade in Angola.
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EQF / Ofqual / US equivalent degree level
EduAtlas shows how each degree fits into internationally recognized qualification frameworks. For example, a bachelor’s degree is classified as Level 6, a master’s degree as Level 7, and a doctorate as Level
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Official denomination of the conferred degree
Most systems tend to prioritize transcription or simplified translation—often into dominant languages such as English or French—over original national denominations. EduAtlas instead preserves all official national languages as they appear on diplomas. If a degree is issued in Swahili, Arabic, Aramaic, or any other national language, EduAtlas includes it, using 300+ official diploma languages.
Please note: at times, you may see a lightbulb light up. This indicates that a specific criterion (such as degree duration or credit structure) may require additional context. Clicking the lightbulb will provide further explanation to support accurate interpretation.
In which occasions can I use EduAtlas and its documents?
Every year, 6.9 million students take part in study abroad programs (UNESCO). EduAtlas supports all the people and institutions involved in this global movement.
EduAtlas can be used to:
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Prepare for international study or mobility
(e.g. a student in Brazil checks how many years of school are needed to enter university in Germany)
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Understand degree equivalencies before applying
(e.g. a family verifies whether a bachelor’s degree from Morocco matches the expected level in France or the U.S.)
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Support admissions and advising decisions
(e.g. a university office reviews how a student’s grades and credits translate from one country to another)
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Plan dual degrees or joint academic programs
(e.g. two universities compare their systems to design a compatible double-degree pathway)
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Clarify academic pathways for students and families
(e.g. understanding how a student can move from one country to another without losing years, credits, or academic value)
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Support educators and policymakers
(e.g. educators comparing systems for curriculum alignment, or public institutions analyzing international education structures)
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, these operations are becoming essential to learning, moving, and working across borders.
Who is EduAtlas designed for?
Every year, 6.9 million students take part in study abroad programs (UNESCO). Alongside them are families, educators, universities, and institutions that must navigate unfamiliar education systems. EduAtlas was created to support these real-world situations.
EduAtlas can be used when:
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A student is exploring study options abroad
(e.g. a student moving from one country to another checks how many years of schooling are required to access university and how long a bachelor’s degree lasts)
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Families are asked to support international education choices
(e.g. parents compare how a degree from their home country aligns with programs offered abroad before making financial decisions)
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Universities evaluate international academic records
(e.g. an admissions office reviews how grades and credits earned in one system correspond to their own requirements)
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Institutions design international programs
(e.g. two universities in different regions compare their education systems to build a compatible exchange or dual-degree pathway)
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Students transfer or continue studies across borders
(e.g. a student converts their transcript to understand how courses, credits, and grades will be recognized in another country)
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Educators, researchers, or policymakers analyze education systems
(e.g. comparing national structures and qualification levels to inform teaching, research, or policy decisions)
As global interconnectedness increases, these and many other situations are becoming everyday challenges. EduAtlas, guided by the principle of Education without borders, aims to provide a free, open, and multi-actor response—supporting students, families, institutions, and decision-makers with shared understanding across education systems.
Yes. All core operations on EduAtlas are completely free:
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No subscriptions
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No hidden fees
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No paywalls
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No intermediaries
Users can explore systems, compare grades, check compatibility, and convert transcripts, with direct PDF export and immediate use.
EduAtlas was designed to remove economic barriers—not create new ones.
Does EduAtlas replace credential evaluation agencies or universities?
Regardless of the institutions you may encounter—private agencies, mediators, third-party providers—any academic conversion or evaluation must ultimately be validated by the receiving institution, whether that is a university, an organization, or an employer.
This principle applies internationally and across all systems.
EduAtlas is not different in this regard.
It allows users to run academic conversions, but final recognition and validation always remain with the receiving institution.
EduAtlas can be used to:
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Prepare academic documentation in advance
(e.g. a student from Ethiopia prepares their transcript on EduAtlas and converts it for a Brazilian university before applying)
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Support institutional review and validation
(e.g. a Brazilian university receives the EduAtlas export and decides autonomously what to recognize, integrate, or amend according to its regulations)
What is different—and unique—about EduAtlas is how this process is accessed and controlled.
EduAtlas is free, open, and always available: There are no fees, no intermediaries, and no dependence on external agencies.
EduAtlas is fully controlled by the user: Students prepare their own conversions, download their documents directly, and decide when and how to share them.
In this way, EduAtlas does not change who decides.
It re-distributes agency and co-responsibility.
How accurate is the data on EduAtlas?
Education systems around the world are structured in very different ways.
EduAtlas is designed to reflect this diversity—without simplification.
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Some countries are centrally regulated by national ministries, with laws and decrees that are public and uniform nationwide.
(e.g. Italy, where degree structures, credits, and grading frameworks are defined at the national level)
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Some countries follow a federal or regional model, where higher education is regulated by regions rather than the state.
(e.g. Germany, where university regulations vary across Länder)
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Some systems grant broad autonomy to individual universities, requiring institution-level analysis.
(e.g. Angola, where universities operate with high independence)
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Some systems are organized through supranational frameworks, with shared standards and public data.
(e.g. the European Union, through ECTS and EQF)
EduAtlas collects, harmonizes, and compares these systems using only official sources—including laws, ministries, accredited universities, and international frameworks.
This work was developed within a doctoral research program at Westcliff University and reviewed through an Institutional Review Board (IRB), ensuring high international research standards.
Because education systems evolve, EduAtlas is also a community-based project.
Educators and institutions are invited to report verified updates or discrepancies—supported by official documentation—which are reviewed and, if validated, incorporated.
EduAtlas is therefore not only a digital platform, but a shared, human, and co-responsible international project.
What makes EduAtlas different from other education databases?
EduAtlas is different because it puts people—not systems—at the center of educational knowledge, while fully respecting how academic recognition actually works worldwide. Unlike most education databases that focus on one country, one framework, or one purpose (rankings, mobility, accreditation), EduAtlas gives students, families, and educators direct control of information, with instant, free, and unmediated feedback—for example, allowing a user to immediately understand how an 18/30 earned at an Italian university is interpreted in South Africa, without agencies, paywalls, or loss of data ownership. Built to overcome Western-centric limitations, EduAtlas covers all 196 UN-recognized countries, preserves official national degree names and languages, and enables comparison on a truly peer-to-peer global level. At the same time, EduAtlas does not replace institutions: as everywhere in the world, final academic recognition and validation always remain with the receiving university, organization, or employer. EduAtlas allows users to prepare and contextualize academic documentation in advance—such as a student from Ethiopia converting their transcript before applying to a university in Brazil—while institutions retain full autonomy in deciding what to recognize. What makes EduAtlas unique is how this process is accessed and controlled: it is free, open, always available, with no intermediaries, and fully user-driven. Students prepare their own conversions, download their documents, and decide when and how to share them, while data remains open, discussable, and continuously improved through verified user feedback under the supervision of doctoral professors, academic committees, and an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Developed by international education scholar and expert Giosuè Prezioso—a first-generation study abroad student turned professor and now Dean—EduAtlas adds what no database usually has: empathy, context, and lived understanding. EduAtlas does not change who decides; it redistributes agency and co-responsibility, making global education finally transparent, fair, and human.
What are the limits of EduAtlas?
EduAtlas is intentionally a human-based project and, as such, it openly acknowledges its limitations. Education systems are complex and constantly evolving: there are nearly 200 countries, 7,000+ languages, and thousands of ministries, universities, and regulatory frameworks worldwide. Laws, regulations, degree structures, and grading systems change over time, sometimes rapidly. No system can be perfectly static or complete.
Rather than hiding this reality, EduAtlas is built to address it transparently.
For this reason, EduAtlas includes a permanent feedback bubble (top-right of the website) that allows continuous input from professors, educators, agents, institutions, and users. Visitors can report inaccuracies, discrepancies, updates, or suggest improvements. Every submission is reviewed, verified against official sources, and—when validated—used to improve the platform.
This makes EduAtlas a system that is aware of its limits and turns them into strength. Accuracy and improvement are treated as a shared responsibility, not a closed process. EduAtlas is therefore not “finished” by design—it is continuously evolving, and you can actively contribute to making it better.
Who owns the data I generate or upload on EduAtlas?
You do.
EduAtlas does not retain personal or sensitive information. Users decide what data to input, and that information is visible only to the user. Any content generated—such as comparisons or documents—can be downloaded, shared by email, or exported as a PDF, but it is not stored, reused, or repurposed by EduAtlas in any form.
For research purposes only, EduAtlas may request non-sensitive contextual information at the start of a session—such as age range, user category (student, parent, educator, other), and general area. This information does not identify individuals, does not include sensitive data, and is used exclusively for aggregated research and international reference, in compliance with applicable standards.
EduAtlas is designed to empower users, not extract data. Control, ownership, and decision-making always remain with the person using the platform.
