Students walked into sham US univ to dodge rules

Updated on: Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Hundreds of Indian students who have gotten scammed by a dodgy California-based university had it coming.

Tri-Valley University (TVU) had a reputation of a “diploma mill” that offered a spurious route to employment and immigration in the US. Students as well as professionals knew about it, discussed it in immigration forums, and warned others about it.

But eager beavers looking for a shortcut to emigrating to the US through a questionable academic route ignored the red flags. After US authorities busted the scam, around 1,500 students, some of them gullible victims, some of them scheming immigrant hopefuls, face financial loss, loss of time, loss of credits, loss of face, and in some cases, even face deportation.

Here’s how the scam unfolded: India, from among all countries, has been sending the maximum number of students to US colleges over the past decade—10,000 to 15,000 each year. Most aspiring students try and get into the top 50 schools, which have stringent qualifying standards, including exams such as GRE and GMAT, besides TOEFL, an English proficiency test. The process involves gaining admission on the basis of test scores, in lieu of which the university, if it is accredited and compliant with US rules, sends an I-20 document to the accepted student, which he or she presents to the embassy or consulate in the home country to get an F-1 student visa.

But in recent years, several unscrupulous universities have come up that waive GRE/ GMAT requirements as long as students can pay thousands of dollars as various “fees”. More pertinently, these colleges dubiously facilitate Optical Practical Training (OPT) and Curricular Practical Training (CPT), the routes to employment, from the first day of enrollment.

Students walked into sham US univ to dodge rules

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