The University of Silicon Valley (USV) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

for-profit university university in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

. Founded in 1887 as Cogswell Technical School, and later known as Cogswell Polytechnical College. It was the first technical training institution in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

and one of only two private universities, along with

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, that were originally guaranteed a tax exemption in the

California Constitution The Constitution of California () is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's constitution was drafted in both English ...

.Belcher, D., And Belcher, M. "Constitutionally Suspect Special Property Tax Exemptions,"SCOCAblog, May 9, 2018. http://scocablog.com/constitutionally-suspect-special-property-tax-exemptions/ USV is accredited by the

WASC Senior College and University Commission The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC ( )) provided accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa and Northern ...

.Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
Statement of Accreditation Status: Cogswell Polytechnical College
. Retrieved 2013-03-27. Programs at USV range from digital media to engineering, with an emphasis on digital animation, audio and music production, and video game design.

History

The University of Silicon Valley was founded as a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

on March 19, 1887, by Henry D. Cogswell in San Francisco. It opened in August 1888, offering technical classes for boys and business classes for girls. On June 30, 1930, it became a technical college. It was the first technical training institution in the

.California Legislature, ''Journal: Appendix. Reports, Volume 5'', 1888
p. 247
The original campus building was occupied in 1888 in the

Mission District The Mission District ( Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as the Mission ( Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. When the 1906 earthquake partially destroyed the campus, the College relocated across the street to an existing home. After the City of San Francisco purchased some of the land by eminent domain in 1917, a new building was constructed at Folsom Street and 26th Street in San Francisco to house the school. In 1974, having outgrown the existing campus, the college moved to a location at Stockton and California Streets. In 1985, it moved to Cupertino,Nathan Donato-Weinstein
"Cogswell College finally chooses a new home"
''Silicon Valley Business Journal'', June 24, 2015, updated June 25, 2015. where it remained until 1994 (its old San Francisco building became a

Ritz Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates the Hotel#Luxury, luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 conference and resort hotels, luxury hotels an ...

hotel). In 1993, the college purchased a campus in

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, ...

, which it moved to in 1994. This campus was sold in 2012, and in 2015 the college moved to a leased building in San Jose.

Modern history

In 2010 the college was acquired by Palm Ventures, a private equity firm. The following year Charles "Chuck" House, executive director of the Media X program at

, became chancellor.Chris O'Brien, "Cogswell College may be Silicon Valley's geekiest secret", '' The Oakland Tribune'', November 5, 2011
archived copyat DailyMarkets.com
November 17, 2011. Deborah Snyder was appointed president of the college in 2014. As of 2018, the current Chief Executive Officer is Charles Restivo. As a result of the acquisition, the college lost its original property tax exemption as a non-profit institution. In April 2021, the university formally took the name of "University of Silicon Valley", referring to the local high-technology growth of

Academics

The University of Silicon Valley offers the

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(B.A.),

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(B.S.), and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(M.A.) degrees and specializes in digital animation, video game design and audio & music production. Its computer graphics degree program is the longest-running in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

. It includes Project X, an invitation-only animated film production course that approximates the experience of interning in the industry, and MediaWorks, an audio-visual concepting and production course, which has been running continuously since 2013.Alia Wilson, "Digital Hogwarts: Cogswell celebrates college's 125th anniversary," ''The Sunnyvale Sun'', Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, June 8, 2012, pp. 20+. MediaWorks facilitates student learning via national and international collaborations between students and professional organizations in a fast-paced, competitive production setting, imitating the environment and work ethic of the media production industries. In November 2007, USV announced the addition of a minor in business management. In January 2011 Cogswell started its entrepreneurship program; it expanded this in 2012 into the first Master's program in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Campus

The University of Silicon Valley is located in

, in

. USV's campus is located in the Innovation Triangle district in North San Jose, near the headquarters of

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

and

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...

. Student housing is spread across

North San Jose North San Jose (abbreviated as NSJ) is the northern region of the city of San Jose, California. North San Jose is made up of numerous neighborhoods grouped into three districts: Alviso, Berryessa, and Rincon / Golden Triangle. North San Jos ...

Student outcomes

According to the

College Scorecard The College Scorecard is an online tool, created by the United States government, for consumers to compare the cost and value of higher education institutions in the United States. At launch, it displayed data in five areas: cost, graduation rate ...

, the school has a 46% 8-year graduation rate. In 2021, the median salary after attending was $61,619.

Notable alumni

* John Oceguera, former Speaker of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member distri ...

* Gertrude Boyle Kanno, American sculptor *

DJ Qbert Richard Quitevis (born October 7, 1969) known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is a Filipino American turntablist and composer who has heavily influenced the History of DJing. He was awarded America's Best DJ in 2010, was DMC USA Champio ...

, Filipino musician

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control

University of Silicon Valley The University of Silicon Valley (USV) is a private for-profit university university in San Jose, California, in Silicon Valley. Founded in 1887 as Cogswell Technical School, and later known as Cogswell Polytechnical College. It was the firs ...

Universities and colleges established in 1887 Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Private universities and colleges in California 1887 establishments in California