In USA or Canada, the diploma from ETHZ or EPFL is not widely known either by many universities or by the industry. Also, there is no country wide Board of Education that could give an official equivalency between the Diploma and an American or Canadian degree. Another consideration to keep in mind is that the universities are either private or controlled by a state. Due to this situation, it is impossible to believe that the Diploma could ever be recognized everywhere in North America.

The A³SFIT believes that the diploma is equivalent to a M.S. or Master of Science. Therefore, the goal is to obtain that Universities and industries recognize such equivalency. The strategy adopted is to provide any member of the Association with the information needed to obtain such recognition. "In 1997, in collaboration with the Swiss Embassy in Washington DC a "Guide for a Successful Start as a Swiss Student or Scientist in the United States of America" was published. A new edition was prepared in 2006 and it is now available also online at http://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib/downloads/edactr/usa/embwas/WASSTE.Par.0001.File.tmp/344830.pdf

In short, the candidate for a position should present a dossier that could include the following information:

• List of courses attended to obtain the Diploma with the number of hours required per week and the number of semesters.
• A resume.
• References. It is advisable to include either alumni of the university, visiting professors from ETHZ/EPFL or persons known in your field or by the reviewing committee.

There are agencies that provide a letter stating the equivalency of the Diploma. They are usually recognized by Universities, industry and INS (for visa purposes). These organizations are listed below. We also indicated the date at which these agencies were last used by an alumni who provided us with a certificate:

• Education Evaluators International Inc.
  P.O. Box 5297
  Los Alamitos, CA 90720-5397
  Phone: 562-493 5021; Fax: 562-431 2187
  (from Swiss List in CA; last used 1999)
  
  
• Center for Educational Documentation
  Director: M. Soveig M. Turner
  P.O. Box 326
  Boston, MA 02130
  Phone: 617-522 4738; Fax: 617-983 5232
  E-mail: ced_eval@ix.netcom.com
  (from Swiss Embassy, 2000)
  
  
• World Education Services
  Contact Mary Beth Sowa
  P.O. Box 57206
  Washington, DC 20037-7206
  Phone: 202-331 2925; Fax: 202-331 2927
  E-mail: msowa@wes.org; www.wes.org
  (from Swiss Embassy, 2000)
  
  
• Evaluation Service Inc.
  International Academic Credential Assessment
  P.O. Box 1455
  Albany, NY 12201
  Phone: 518-672 4522; Fax: 518-672 4677
  (last used 1995)
  
  
• Education International
  29 Denton Road
  Wellesley, MA 02181
  Phone: 617-235 7425
  (last used 1991)
  

The following organization gives a letter stating that the Diploma is equivalent to a Bachelor of Science (DO NOT USE):

• Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
  PO Box 514070 Milwaukee WI 53203-3470 USA
  414-289-3400 | eval@ece.org
  (last used in 2005)
  
  
• Global Education Group
  407 Lincoln Rd Suite 2H
  Miami Beach, FL 33139
  www.globaledu.com
  (last used in 1998)
  
  
• Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.
  Mailing Address
  P.O. box 248233
  Coral Gables, FL 33124
  Office Address
  7101 SW 102 Ave.
  Miami, FL 33173
  Phone: 305-273 1616; Fax: 305-273 1338
  www.jsilny.com; E-mail: Infoa@jsilny.com
  (last used in 2001)
  

Some useful information about PE Registration:

• To achieve the PE registration an alumni has to:
  
  1. Be admitted to take the first exam called Fundamentals of Engineering/EIT (FE/EIT).
  2. Once passed the FE/EIT, apply to the second exam called Principles and Practice of Engineering (The PE exam). Four years of accepted professional experience are needed if the diploma is recognized or eight year if it is not.
• To qualify for FE/EIT, the Diploma is not recognized because EPFL and ETHZ are not ABET accredited schools. Whether you present the Diploma as a MS or BS is irrelevant here. However, the ABET recognition is not an absolute requirement but the transcripts of the EPFL/ETHZ education as well as any other education and work experience after the Diploma needs to be presented. It is advisable to include in the application also references from several PE engineers who will endorse your candidature.

Dipoma Recognition for architects www.naab.org/information2657/information.htm