After the closure of the dubious Tri-Valley and Herguan universities in California over the last two years, yet another sham American university comprising predominantly of Indian students, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, has been shut down.
The unaccredited University of Northern Virginia (UNVA), with about 500 students and operating on the ground floor of an office building in suburban Washington for the last 15 years, has been ordered to cease operations and close immediately after the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia revoked its licence. The shutdown did not come as any surprise as this “low-cost, easy-admissions” institution, but what has caused raised eyebrows is that UNVA has managed to function even while remaining unaccredited for the last five years and having failed four State audits.
UNVA affairs came under public glare for the first time in July 2011, when agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided its premises in Annandale and served a notice of intent to withdraw permission to admit foreign students. At that time, UNVA had some 2,400 students, mostly from India and from Andhra Pradesh. But the official action led to a gradual exodus, with many students applying for transfers to other universities. As of the beginning of the last academic year in September 2012, there were just about 500 students on its rolls.
In its revocation order, the Virginia council said that UNVA, catering largely to foreign students, had failed for the last five years to receive accreditation from any organisation recognised by the US Department of Education. As for the impact on students affected by the shutdown, the council said it would communicate with them on their options once it receives from UNVA the student academic and financial records.
Although in existence for 15 years, few people knew about the university with such a high-sounding name. It has had problems with its ownership, its record-keeping, indications that its chancellor was “a suburban sex-dungeon master” and with allegations that it was simply a way for foreign nationals to obtain a US visa, The Washington Post reported. Back in March 2011, the Chronicle of Higher Education conducted its own investigation on UNVA affairs, close on the heels of the shutdown of Tri-Valley University in California in January that year.
At that time, The Chronicle quoted UNVA founder Daniel Ho as boasting that his institution was “very profitable”, remarking: “I can sell degrees. I can sell diplomas. But I won’t. Who’s going to supervise me, control meIJ Myself.” “One must travel to the basement of a four-story building in Annandale to find the main campus of the University of Northern Virginia,” wrote Watchdog.org, which has filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for information about ICE investigations into UNVA affairs. “It’s a cramped space, with four computer workstations arranged five feet from an information desk,” noted Watchdog.org.