Sleazy:  dishonest or immoral; marked by low character or quality

• Synonyms:  skanky [slang], slatternly, sluttish, slutty, trampy
• Antonyms:  excellent, fine, first-class, first-rate, good, high-grade, superior, top-notch

Yes, dear reader, here’s another story about a US institution of higher education that uses lies and deception as key tactics in its aggressive student recruitment strategy in Vietnam and elsewhere.  And, yes, it’s based in the great state of California (sorry, CA friends!), home to Hollywood, some of the nation’s finest climates, one of the breadbaskets of the world and a motley crew of unaccredited and nationally accredited (NA) institutions, i.e., for-profit education companies, in most cases.  In the interest of time, let me just mention three examples about this NA school:

1. Claims to have a letter from the US President congratulating its students on their graduation.  Of course, the image on their website is so small that it’s hard to see what Mr. President wrote and it doesn’t appear to be real White House stationery.
2. Has its name on an office building it claims to be its campus.  Nothing unusual, right?  The only problem is the name is photoshopped onto a building in which it probably has a suite of offices and classrooms.  This is well beyond exaggeration.  False advertising, anyone?
3. Has a senior administrator who was previously a senior administrator with an unaccredited, CA-based institution.  A leopard can’t change its spots, as the saying goes.

By the way, since said NA school is “officially accredited”, it has the right to be represented and promoted by the US government, including the Departments of State (i.e., EducationUSA) and Commerce (Commercial Service).  In case you’re wondering, it’s also SEVIS-approved, meaning it’s authorized to issue I-20s, which enable international students to apply for a student visa.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

I will not mention the name of the offending institution only to say that I’ll be updating my list of nationally accredited US schools doing business, or trying to do business, in Vietnam in the near future.  At that time, you can use your formidable powers of deduction to figure it out.  Once you do, you can post a comment that says something to this effect:  “No shit, Sherlock.”

By the way, a little birdie told me that some doors are closing for this sad excuse for a university in Vietnam and that’s a good thing.  Hurray for a small measure of justice in a largely unjust world!

MAA