Operating status
The University's MBA, MSCS, and MSEE programs operate with approval from the California Department of Consumer Affairs' Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. [10] The Bureau is not an accreditation agency and does not confer accreditation status to educational institutions.
On August 2, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) served Herguan with a notice of intent to withdraw its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification. [11] [12] Herguan's CEO has been indicted on visa fraud charges. [13]
On September 18, 2012, ICE revoked Herguan's SEVP approval, but rescinded that decision a day later. [11] According to ICE, Herguan's lawyer had sent the response to a wrong email address. The San Jose Mercury News reported on evidence that Herguan officials tried to get help from local and state politicians regarding the ICE investigation. [14]
On April 9, 2015, Herguan's former CEO, Jerry Wang, pleaded guilty to visa fraud. [15] On April 10, 2015, ICE moved to revoke Herguan's SEVP approval. [16]
On September 14, 2015, Herguan's former CEO, Jerry Wang, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and forfeiture of $700K for his role in a student visa fraud scheme at Herguan. [17]
On October 6, 2016, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revoked Herguan's SEVP approval, terminating their ability to enroll foreign students. [18]
Other practices
Herguan obtained government approval to admit foreign students based on an application that included letters purporting to be from accredited colleges stating that they would accept credits from Herguan for transfer students. However, the letters were disclaimed by those colleges. An official at another college stated that Herguan staff offered payments in exchange for recognition. However, as recently as late 2010, most of Herguan's students were employed outside of California in full-time jobs, an apparent violation of the condition of their visas requiring them to be full-time students taking no more than one on-line class each term. This practice may have been curtailed in December 2010 when Herguan's president sent letters to all students requiring them to return to California. [19] The president, however, backtracked later, and offered students $500 to return for classes for six days. [21]
Several Herguan staff claimed that otherwise failing students had been able to buy passing grades by paying more money to the school. [19] [21] Prospective students have claimed students get paid $1200 for each student who they refer to the school. [22] The school also maintained "educational consultants" who were paid for students they referred, most of whom were based in Hyderabad, India. [23]
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) is a program within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to manage foreign students and exchange visitors in the United States through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). The SEVP encompasses the F status, J status, and M status. The exchange visitor part of the program is managed by the U.S. Department of State, although the SEVIS system is maintained by ICE.
Saint Regis University, sometimes styled as St. Regis University, was a diploma mill operation that was one of about 120 connected institutions operated by an American fraud ring from about 1999 until 2005, when it was shut down by U.S. government authorities. The operation was known as "Operation Gold Seal".
Columbia Pacific University (CPU) was a distance learning school in California. It was founded in 1978 and closed by California court order in 2000.
In the United States, Optional Practical Training (OPT) is a period during which undergraduate and graduate students with F-1 status who have completed or have been pursuing their degrees for one academic year are permitted by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to work for one year on a student visa towards getting practical training to complement their education. Foreign students currently enrolled at a U.S. university can receive full-time or part-time work authorization through Curricular Practical Training. In 2022, there were 171,635 OPT employment authorizations. In 2021, there were 115,651 new non-STEM OPT authorizations, a 105% increase from a decade ago.
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The Oregon Office of Degree Authorization (ODA) is a unit of the Office of Student Access and Completion, with responsibilities related to maintaining high standards in private higher education institutions in Oregon. ODA administers laws and provides oversight of private colleges and universities offering degree programs in the state, validates individual claims of degrees, enforces the closure of substandard or fraudulent higher education programs in the state, and enforces policy for publicly funded postsecondary programs and locations. It was formerly a unit of the Oregon Student Access Commission (OSAC), which became Oregon Student Assistance Commission prior to January 1, 2012. Its functions moved to the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission as part of the Office of Student Access and Completion in July 2012.
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International American University (IAU) is a private for-profit university in Palmdale and Los Angeles, California. It started operations in 2005 in Los Angeles, as the Management Institute of America, Inc.
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In the United Kingdom a bogus college is a fake college or university used as part of an immigration and visa scam, whereby people from overseas can apply for a British student visa and illegally reside in the United Kingdom. They have also been set up as a money making scam, selling fake qualifications which have no official accreditation, often at the taxpayer's expense.
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Visa fraud has different criteria in various parts of the world but the commonly accepted points are the sale, provision, or transfer of otherwise legitimate visas, misrepresentation of reasons for traveling and forgery or alteration of a visa.
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