SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – The sudden closure of a South Bay school has crushed the dreams of many foreign students seeking a ticket to Silicon Valley.
The education that they hoped would lead to a career in technology is now in limbo after Silicon Valley University closed abruptly.
It is not the first time the school has been under scrutiny.
The school has been under investigation and at risk of closing for some time, but the loss of its accreditation at the end of last year was the first domino to fall. That's what allowed state regulators to come close to closing the institution this week.
Students on campus were confronted with canceled classes and empty chairs on Friday.
The KPIX 5 cameras saw a lone student in the library, reflecting on his future and the future of the school he once proudly attended.
"My friends and I have suffered a lot because of this university," said the student, who did not want to give his name.
It has been a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the university, which until recently had an international student body of nearly 4,000 men and women who had traveled half the world promising quality education and the possibility of working in the valley's technology industry.
"Students who come from other countries have so many dreams, they want to acquire more knowledge, they want to study a master's degree," the student told KPIX 5.
But in December the university lost its accreditation.
The state should have been notified at that time, but it was not, only found out a few months later.
Then the state regulators have closed the school.
But it is not the first time that SVU has been under a cloud of suspicion.
Two years ago, KPIX 5 reported that several of the students at the university had been denied entry to the US. UU And sent back to his native India when the national security department took energetic action against the so-called visa factories. That was an accusation that the school denied.
"Our students are very upset with all this, because they know that this school is a legitimate university," said SVU Academic Dean, Simon Au, on those allegations.
On Friday, the university blamed its co-founder Jerry Shiao and wrote: "The loss of accreditation from Silicon Valley University is based on alleged acts and omissions that occurred during Dr. Shiao's tenure as president." Dr. Shiao is no longer We are taking all the necessary measures to recover our accreditation. "
But for current and former students, that promise seems as empty as the hallways of the school.
"They lost money and they lost time, they can not get it back," said the anonymous student of the SVU.
While university officials say they are working diligently to restore school accreditation, no one was able to provide a timeline of when that might happen.
In addition to regaining accreditation, the school will have to reapply to the state for approval to operate in California.
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