MILPITAS (US), Dec 13: The University of Silicon Andhra, the first-of-its-kind university in the US, being run by Indian Americans and offering courses in Indian dances and languages, is now expanding to a sprawling campus that would have a medical college, an international standard cricket stadium and is launching new courses in advance technologies like artificial intelligence.
“Many people can’t believe that there is a university that offers graduate programmes in Indian arts and languages…Initially, we had students only from the United States, but now we have students even from India, Malaysia, South Africa and Dubai,” Anand Kuchibhotla, president of the University of SiliconAndhra told PTI in a recent interview.
Accredited by WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), a US Department of Education recognised and approved accrediting agency in the United States, the University of SiliconAndhra currently has its main campus in Milpitas, California.
At present, it offers six Master of Arts, five diplomas, and five certificate programmes. It now has 230 students, a significant increase since 2017, when it started with 44 students.
Announcing that the university would soon offer courses in Master of Science in Computer Science with concentrations in Computational Linguistics, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing, Kuchibhotla said they are planning to start an MD in allopathy medicine programme.
“We are planning to start the Raga therapy programme in Indian classical music, otherwise, music therapy. We want to do clinical trials because in the Western world, whatever we say, the belief system alone doesn’t help. We need to have evidence-based science, that is what we are going to create in many, many areas,” he said.
A philanthropist has donated 67 acres of land in Silicon Valley and “we have done the Bhoomi Puja…Hopefully, in the next couple of years, the campus will start taking shape and when it takes shape it’ll be one of the world-class universities with the soul and heart of India,” Kuchibhotla said.
The university, among other things, would have a medical college and an international standard cricket stadium. “This would be the first university in the US to have a cricket stadium,” he said.
The University of SiliconAndhra, Kuchibhotla said, has signed a memorandum of understanding with about a dozen universities in India.
The university, he said, has designed a completely different programme to help students get real-life industry experience.
Kuchibhotla claimed the tuition fees of about USD 27,000 for an MS (Master of Science) course is one of the lowest in the US. (PTI)
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