We reported earlier that an accrediting organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education — one that routinely has given favorable notices to institutions run by visa sharks — has run into trouble and might be put out of business this year.
That organization is the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), essentially a creature of the for-profit education community. It has issued formal blessings for such questionable entities as Herguan University and Northwestern Polytechnic University, both California schools that have hired the same convicted ex-university president, Jerry Wang; he was indicted and jailed for visa fraud.
The latest news is that the Department of Education has formally recommended that ACICS be de-recognized, largely because of its accreditations of for-profit schools, such as Corinthian Colleges, that provided large bills and little education to numerous low-income Americans and to veterans.
But that's not the end of the story. We are facing a governmental maneuver reminiscent of a flea flicker in football, in which the quarterback hands off the ball to a running back, who laterals it back to the QB, who then tosses a forward pass. In this case the department's recommendation at the working level is being sent to the government's National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, which, in turn, will study the matter and give a recommendation back to DoE, for a final decision. The Advisory Committee is due to meet Thursday (June 23).
With luck, this process will conclude in the next six weeks or so in order to impact alien students' decisions about attending the visa mills this fall, and perhaps the admissions decisions of immigration inspectors at the San Francisco airports as intending "students" from India arrive on their way to either Herguan or NPU.
Unfortunately Congress has allowed the Department of Homeland Security to permit the issuance of visa-creating documents by educational entities that have not been accredited by anybody, so direct action by DoE against ACICS is unlikely to cause DHS to move against Herguan and NPU.
However, the Center for Immigration Studies, which has filed a formal statement with the DoE against the recognition of ACICS, will see to it that the Indian press knows of any negative decision.
Feds Move Against Accrediting Council That OK'd Visa Mills
Topics: Student Visa Fraud, Education