ImmigrationCorruption in academic accreditation
Little-known colleges, most unaccredited, exploit Byzantine federal regulations, enrolling almost exclusively foreign students and charging them upward of $3,000 for a chance to work legally in the United States; they flourish in California and Virginia, where regulations are lax, and many of their practices are shoddy — for instance, holding some classes on only three weekends per semester; these colleges usher in thousands of foreign students and generate millions of dollars in profits because they have the power, bestowed by the U.S. government, to help students get visas
There are roughly 1,500 Indian students enrolled at Tri-Valley University, a California institution that was raided by federal agents in January. The government seized property, threatened to deport students, and in legal filings, called Tri-Valley a “sham university” that admitted and collected tuition from foreign students but did not require them to attend class. The president of Tri-Valley, Susan Xiao-Ping Su, denies the charges.
Many students allegedly worked full-time, low-level retail jobs that were passed off as career training so they could be employed while on student visas. The university listed 553 students as living in a single two-bedroom apartment near the college, although students were spread out across the country, from Texas to Illinois to Maryland.
The raid on Tri-Valley received limited attention in the United States, but it was and remains a big story in India, where newspapers and television shows portray U.S. officials as callous, and oversight of the student-visa program as incompetent. After weeks of bad publicity, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton felt compelled to assure Indian officials that the situation would be resolved fairly. Meanwhile, immigration officials have pointed to the shuttering of Tri-Valley as proof of their vigilance.
The Chronicle of Higher education reports that an investigation suggests that Tri-Valley is only the beginning. Other colleges, most unaccredited, exploit Byzantine federal regulations, enrolling almost exclusively foreign students and charging them upward of $3,000 for a chance to work legally in the United States. They flourish in California and Virginia, where regulations are lax, and many of their practices are shoddy—for instance, holding some classes on only three weekends per semester. These colleges usher in thousands of foreign students and generate millions of dollars in profits because they have the power, bestowed by the U.S. government, to help students get visas.
Visitors to Tri-Valley University’s Web site will notice its misspellings, creative grammar, and apparent untruths claiming that students will receive “fluent and skilful [sic] capability of practical application tool.” In a section listing reasons to attend Tri-Valley, supposedly the most frequent comment from students is “It seems too good to be true, but it is very TRUE!”
It also says that the university is accredited by the International Association of Bible Colleges and Seminaries, but an official there said Tri-Valley was never a member and that the association does not offer accreditation. Purported faculty members who appear on Tri-Valley’s Web site say they never taught there.
The federal
