There are two aspects of this story that I would like to talk about. The first that in the American media, this story is not front page news. It’s buried in the middle of the newspaper. The big coverage is in India.
The second thing I want to talk about is here – today, I read this. From DNA Daily News and Analysis based in Mumbai, India. –
The large-scale mushrooming of fake Indian agents working on behalf of lesser-known foreign universities are to blame (my emphasis) for students falling prey to fraudulent institutions like Tri-Valley University (TVU) in the US, say experts.
“This is sad but true. In India, we have no regulatory mechanism to monitor agents working for foreign universities. These agents work for lesser-known or fraud universities abroad and dupe Indian students. They mislead students into joining fake universities abroad like TVU in the US,” says Manjula Raman, a career counsellor and principal of Army Public School, Bangalore.
It required a great deal of effort for this scandal to happen. Yes, there were agents in India exploiting these students but the American tolerance for sham universities and colleges is the other half of the equation. One make the other possible.
I personally know of some sham schools. Most people here do. Colleges spring up with signs in store front windows and four room buildings. Usually some religious education designed to train you as a minister or get you a certificate for office work.
My suspicion is that overseas, one American college looks very much like another.
Agents in India are taking advantage of how the American educational works (or doesn’t work). But there were a good number of Americans involved as well.
I want the people responsible in India for these students’ plight to go to jail.
I also want the Americans defrauding these students to go to jail.
James Pilant
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 
I agree with you. I have seen personally some of these agents in Vadodara and Ahmedabad of Gujarat where the students are ready to pay any amount to go to US or Australia. The problem arises after the event occurs as at the time of sending the students to Australia or US it appears the educational institutions in such places must be run within the ambit of law. I will not call these students also gullible because they are aware of the consequences if caught. Maybe they try their luck for some degrees and come back home or try to stay where they go.
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That’s very sad. In this case, India and the United States make a bad situation worse because of faults in each country. I’m going to go with worse in the United States because it is more of a tragedy to have hundreds of fake and faulty educational institutions than to have individuals willing to use shady tactics selling access to students.
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The ICE “Notice of Intent to Withdraw” the TVU SEVP approval alleges that a number of people used CPT to work in retail stores, 7-Eleven, etc.
I doubt that these students weren’t aware that this kind of stuff isn’t legal.
TVU of course benefited from the religious exemption laws in CA. That changed in 2010, though, and TVU never got approval under the BPPE rules in effect since Jan. 2010. These religious exemptions need to go in all states. They are just an invitation for fraud.
But it clearly also is an issue of Indian society, with having a US visa resulting in better marriage prospects, more prestige for the family, etc.
All that combined into a pretty bad cocktail. And now the students have the hangover.
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That could be the incentive, immigrants with a valid reason. This morning I saw in the twitter one info from Chennai: “There are many brokers here for such institutions who can get an American Doctorate for as little as USD10,000.” So long such loopholes exist many around the world would exploit it.
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They’ve sacrificed a great deal to come to the United States. The school they went to was on a list of approved institutions. They deserve a chance to stay. Their motives may have been mixed but sorting them out at this point would be extremely difficult and probably result in much injustice.
James Pilant
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I do endorse your views. Students should not be sacrificed and the lessons have to be taught to others – the agent provocateurs.
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