Tri-Valley gave its students a 20% cut to lure buddies: Report
HYDERABAD: Students in Tri-Valley University apparently got a 20% cut from the sham varsity for every admission they facilitated: The commission was lucrative as it was calculated on the tuition fee (approx Rs 8 lakh) of the fresher.
Moreover, many from Andhra Pradesh had taken a circuitous route to Tri-Valley first joining another varsity and then landing up at the fake varsity, lured probably by its offer of instant employment.
These findings figure in the detailed report submitted by the NRI cell (at the Secretariat) to chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. As per the report, a majority of the Indian students had moved to Tri-Valley from other universities. It also states that only a little more than 100 students who had obtained visas from US Consulates in India were Tri-Valley bound, indicating that most with F-1 visas were going to other universities.
The students needed a crooked route to Tri-Valley as it was not approved by the US to provide I-20 forms, which every applicant for student visa (F-1), needs to submit. Using illegal I-20 forms issued by Tri-Valley raised the risk of being caught during a thorough check. Consequently, students preferred to take admissions in other universities with valid I-20 forms and then used it to enter Tri-Valley.
The university, however, claims on its website that it was "authorised'' by the US government to issue I-20 forms. But only 140 of its 5,500 students had this form from Tri-Valley. Parents have also accused Tri-Valley of running a scam even in issuing these "fake" I-20 forms.
"While most universities issue I-20 forms without much hassle, Tri-Valley University management or agents charged Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000," said a parent from the city.
Some students from Hyderabad even received an I-20 directly from the university and it is reliably learnt that both Hyderabad US Consulate and the one at Chennai failed to detect the fraud and processed these F-1 visa forms.
In some cases it appeared that students had not really intended to move to the sham Tri-Valley unversity. For instance, a local student who went for her MBA to Schiller International University, Florida, eventually moved to Tri-Valley along with a bunch of 20 other students after her course was over. The reason? While most joined it lured by the prospect of being legally allowed to work (Tri-Valley gives Curricular Practical Training enabling students to work from Day 1 for 20 to 40 hours a week), others simply joined the bandwagon.
Now with several students being radio-tagged and interrogated for long hours, the CM on Wednesday said that the state had written to the ministry of external affairs and the Indian consulate in California to protect students and provide them with legal aid.
