Certified, word-for-word academic translations for evaluators, universities, licensing boards, and USCIS, in 326 languages.
A certified diploma or academic transcript translation is a complete, word-for-word English rendering of your academic record, delivered with a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy, the format credential evaluators like WES require. Prism Linguistics translates diplomas and transcripts in 326 languages, usually within 24 to 48 hours for a single-page diploma, from around $24.95 per page.
Last reviewed August 24, 2026 by the Prism Linguistics editorial team
Diploma translation rarely travels alone. It sits inside something bigger: a graduate application due in three weeks, a WES evaluation holding up a job offer, a nursing license that cannot move until the board can read your coursework. Our job is to be the part of that process you never think about twice.
This page covers academic documents specifically; the general rules on certification live on our certified translation page. Send scans through the quote form or call +1 (833) 282 8883, and you will have a fixed price within 60 minutes during business hours.
Credential evaluators such as WES (World Education Services), ECE, and SpanTran all publish the same core requirement: any document not issued in English must arrive with an exact, word-for-word English translation, not a summary and not an interpretive one. WES states this explicitly in its document requirements; an evaluator will not accept a translation that paraphrases.
The division of labor matters here. We translate; the evaluator evaluates. Every translation we deliver is complete and literal, mirrors the layout of the original, and carries a signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy on company letterhead. That is the package evaluators like WES require, and universities and licensing boards ask for the same format, so one translation usually serves every office in your application.
A degree certificate translation ends up in more offices than most people expect. The requests we see most often:
Tell us which of these you are dealing with and we prepare the translation in the format that body expects.
Academic paperwork comes in layers. The diploma proves the award; the transcript proves the work behind it; course descriptions and syllabi prove what the work actually contained. Different offices want different layers.
| Document | Commonly required by | Typical turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Diplomas and degree certificates | Evaluators, university admissions, USCIS petitions, employers | 24 to 48 hours |
| Academic transcripts with grading scales | Course-by-course evaluations, graduate admissions, licensing boards | 2 to 3 business days |
| Course descriptions and syllabi | Licensing boards checking curriculum content, transfer-credit reviews | 3 to 5 business days |
| Professional certificates and licenses | State boards, ECFMG, employer HR verification | 24 to 48 hours |
Turnarounds assume an approved quote; handwritten or unusually long records take more time. If your name has changed since graduation, send the document that bridges the gap. A certified birth certificate translation in the same package often settles an identity question before anyone raises it.
Here is the boundary we hold, and you should want us to: we translate what the document says, and nothing else. If your transcript shows a 17 out of 20, the translation shows a 17 out of 20, with the grading scale rendered exactly as printed. Converting your grades into a US GPA is the credential evaluator's job, not the translator's, and evaluators are explicit about preferring it that way.
A translation that quietly turns a 17/20 into a 3.7 GPA has stopped being a translation and started being an opinion, and it is the kind of thing that gets an entire file queried. What we do add is care with the details evaluators check: transliterating your name to match your passport, translating every seal and stamp, and keeping the table structure so a registrar can run a finger down both documents at once.
Credit hours, honors classifications, licenciatura versus bachelor's: academic vocabulary does not map neatly between systems, and a wrong choice can understate a qualification. Your documents go to professionally qualified, background-checked translators who are native speakers of the language pair and have handled academic records before, and a second linguist checks names, grades, and dates against the original before the certificate is signed. Two sets of eyes, one signature.
We translate academic records from all 326 languages we work in, but a handful dominate: Spanish licenciaturas, Hindi and regional-language Indian degrees bound for WES, Mandarin transcripts for graduate admissions, Arabic records for licensing boards, and Portuguese diplomas from Brazil. The whole process is digital, so a client in Houston or Seattle gets the same turnaround as one near our Manhattan office.
Four steps, most of them ours. Your part takes about five minutes.
Upload your diploma and every page of your transcript through our quote form, or email them to info@prismlinguistics.com. Tell us how your name is spelled on your passport and which body will receive the translation: WES, a university, a licensing board, or USCIS.
We reply within 60 minutes during business hours with a fixed price and turnaround. Diplomas are quoted per page and transcripts on the full document, and nothing starts until you approve.
A professionally qualified translator produces a complete, word-for-word translation that mirrors the layout of the original, a second linguist checks names, grades, and dates, and we attach the signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy.
You get a signed PDF by email, usually within 24 to 48 hours for a single-page diploma. If the receiving office wants paper, we mail a wet-ink hard copy by USPS or FedEx anywhere in the US.
As a guide, certified academic translation in the US market starts at around $24.95 per page, and a one-page diploma usually lands close to that figure. Transcripts are the variable: a bachelor's record commonly runs four to eight pages once the grading key and seals are counted, so transcripts are quoted on the whole document, often at a volume rate rather than a flat page price. Treat these figures as market guidance; your quote confirms the exact price before any work begins.
A single-page diploma is usually ready in 24 to 48 hours, a standard transcript in 2 to 3 business days. If a deadline is bearing down on you, same day translation is sometimes possible for short documents, subject to capacity, and we would rather tell you a straight no than a comfortable maybe. Broader rate context is on our pricing page.
One more edge case: if the receiving body abroad wants a notarized copy of your US-bound record, or your degree is traveling the other direction, our notarized translation page explains what a notary adds and when you genuinely need one. We prepare the certified translation in the form a notary public needs — the notarization itself is the notary's act, not ours.
The questions applicants ask most often before ordering.
Send scans and tell us where they are going. You will have a fixed price and turnaround within 60 minutes during business hours.
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