My office received a few concerned calls from family members of Aristotle University Students. The University is in a center of a heated media investigation into the legitimacy of this Institution to provide education and issue student visas.
Questions have been raised by students for some time about this school. They say the school’s academic program and its operators seem more concerned about collecting fees than providing education.
Many students unconvinced the school is providing the kind of instruction and course work it advertised on its website. That website was taken down last week as questions about the school began to mount.
Most of the school’s students are in the U.S. on student visas. Many have been afraid to voice their concerns for fear the school will move to cancel those visas, requiring they leave the country.
The school’s owner is Xanthi Gionis, one of four candidates running in a March 12 special election for the 40th state Senate District, which became vacant when Democrat Juan Vargas was elected to Congress in November.
The Students should seek a transfer to another institution if possible, convert status to a different visa or seek exit from the US. This is very unfortunate as many of the students already spent thousands of dollars to stay here. The possibility of loosing all the money invested so far is heart breaking.
We hope the Department of Homeland Security will take into consideration the students’ hardship as they try to transition to other school or visas.