The University of Silicon Valley (USV) is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as 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 areas San Mateo County ...

. Founded in 1887 as Cogswell Technical School, and later known as Cogswell Polytechnical College. It was the first technical training institution in the West and one of only two private universities, along with

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, that were originally guaranteed a tax exemption in the

Californian Constitution The Constitution of California ( es, Constitución de California) is the Constitution, primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California' ...

.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) was an organization providing accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa ...

.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 Cogswell 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 describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

on March 19, 1887, by

Henry D. Cogswell Henry Daniel Cogswell (March 3, 1820 – July 8, 1900) was an American dentist and a crusader in the temperance movement. Cogswell and his wife Caroline also founded Cogswell College in San Jose, California. Henry Cogswell College, Another campus ...

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 West. 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 is ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. 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 Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

,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 company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...

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

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. 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 The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the decline ...

'', November 5, 2011
online at Highbeam
(subscription required)
at 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

University of Silicon Valley - Baypointe Campus 2396 (cropped)

Enso Apartments by the University of Silicon Valley

The University of Silicon Valley offers the

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(B.A.),

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

(B.S.), and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) 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. Tho ...

(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, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

. 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 The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

and

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

. 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 Jose ...

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 42 percent 8-year graduation rate. In 2021, the median salary after attending was $61,619.

Notable alumni

John Oceguera John Oceguera (born 1968 in Reno, Nevada) is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician. He represented Clark County District 16 in the Nevada Assembly from 2001 to 2013 and was elected speaker of the Assembly in 2011. Oceguera is ...

, former Speaker of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), 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 ...

* Gertrude Boyle Kanno, American sculptor *

DJ Qbert Richard Quitevis (born October 7, 1969) known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is an American turntablist and composer. He was awarded America's Best DJ in 2010, was DMC USA Champion 1991 (solo) and achieved titles as DMC World Champion in ...

, Filipino musician

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control

University of Silicon Valley The University of Silicon Valley (USV) is a private 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 first technical training ins ...

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