University of Silicon Valley
private university in San Jose, California, United States
The University of Silicon Valley (USV) is a private for-profit university in San Jose, California, in Silicon Valley. The school was founded in 1887 as Cogswell Polytechnical College. It was the first technical training institution in the Western United States and one of only two private universities, along with Stanford University, that were originally guaranteed a tax exemption in the California Constitution. USV is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission. 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 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 Western United States.
The original campus building was occupied in 1888 in the Mission District in San Francisco.
The public source identifies “University of Silicon Valley” as private university in San Jose, California, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around University, Silicon and Valley.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “University of Silicon Valley”, the useful work is to connect “private university in San Jose, California, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5141289. Authority coordinates are 37.414, -121.941. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 2 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1888 and 1930.
Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “University of Silicon Valley”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow University of Silicon Valley primary sources, University of Silicon Valley archive and University research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “University of Silicon Valley”?
- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
- What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “University of Silicon Valley” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.