Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is temporary employment authorization directly related to an F-1 non-immigrant status student’s academic program where the work done counts towards course credit for their degree. CPT is available only prior to the completion of your degree program and you must have a job offer at the time of application. CPT employment may not delay the completion of the academic program.
Eligibility:
- Must be in valid F-1 status at the time of the application. Full-time students who are applying to change their immigration status to F-1 within the U.S. (application through USICS) or by traveling (via consular processing) may be eligible to use time from a previous immigration status towards accruing benefits, such as Curricular Practical Training (CPT), as long as the student has maintained full-time F-1 enrollment requirements.
- Have been in full-time status for one academic year preceding that CPT application. Exception: graduate students whose degree requires immediate participation in CPT may apply at any time.
- The work must be needed to fulfill course/class requirements.
- Must be enrolled in a course that will give you credit for the work.
- The course must be an “integral part of the established curriculum”, i.e., it must be required for the degree program or earning credit for the degree program. For graduate students on a thesis or dissertation, the work done must be required to complete the thesis or dissertation.
- Good academic standing (minimum 3.0 GPA for graduates, 2.0 GPA for undergraduates). If good standing is not maintained, CPT authorization will be canceled.
- Have not completed degree requirements.
Applying for CPT:
- Review and apply via the Request for CPT application via submittable here.
- Have your program/academic advisor sign the Advisor/Instructor Agreement & Certification Form
- Complete the CPT Online Blackboard Certification Course
- Get Handshake CPT Internship Approval from Career Center
- Have your program/academic advisor sign the Academic Advisor Recommendation Letter
- Submit your Employment/Internship Offer Letter
- Employment/Internship Offer Letter
- Medical insurance covering the period of employment. Any Mexican national or resident who will be authorized CPT outside the Rio Grande Valley will be automatically billed UTRGV AHP Care onto your student account. If your employer is providing medical insurance coverage for the period of employment, you must apply for an insurance waiver at https://utrgv.myahpcare.com/waiver. If coverage is not possible then CPT cannot be approved.
CPT Application Deadlines:
The deadline for CPT is the census date of the semester that you are requesting it. Census dates can be found via the academic calendar.
CPT Considerations:
Students must maintain full-time enrollment during spring and fall semesters and remain enrolled in the CPT class that is required during the internship. If internship is in the summer, there is no additional enrollment requirement, only the internship class. For Spring and Fall internships, a Full-time enrollment is 12 credit hours for undergraduate students and 9 credit hours for graduate students is expected. If a student drops below full-time or drops their CPT course, then CPT will automatically be canceled, and the student may even lose status. Any off-campus work, including remote work and unpaid internships, must first be authorized via CPT approval on your I-20. Your I-20 must remain valid throughout the period of authorized CPT. You cannot engage in your CPT-based employment until the CPT I-20 is in hand, and then only within the dates authorized. If a student is reported to have worked off campus with no CPT authorization on their I-20, or outside the dates or employer authorized, the student’s SEVIS record will be automatically terminated based on unauthorized employment.
If students are taking an internship class as CPT out-of-state along with other courses within the same semester, there has to be some on-campus presence.
If students are doing out of-state CPT for your Capstone/Thesis/Dissertations on their last semester, they are satisfying the "in-person" requirement at the internship site.
Employment cannot exceed 40 hours a week during any time of the year and students who plan to work on-campus as well as work their CPT off-campus job must balance the total number of hours to not exceed 40 hours a week. A CPT approval at 20 hours or more is considered full-time employment and 12 months of full-time CPT at 20 hours or more a week will automatically disqualify you for any type of OPT for your current degree level. Part-time CPT at less than 20 hours a week should not affect your post-completion OPT eligibility.
Students may be authorized for CPT only one semester at a time. If you have a second required course appropriate for CPT, you can go through the authorization process again and get a new I-20 for the next semester. A change of employer or amount of hours will require you to re-submit your CPT request even if it is for the same semester. CPT approval for more than one employer may be allowed if a separate CPT application is completed for each employer and the total number of combined hours does not exceed over 40 a week.
Students can maintain on-campus work authorization as well as CPT as long as both work authorizations do not surpass 40 hours a week combined. If the CPT is already 40 hours a week, then the student cannot continue to maintain their on-campus employment.
CPT is employer, location, full-time/part-time, and date specific. The employer’s name, address, and precise start and end dates must be authorized by ISS in advance. If any update needs to be made with your CPT once you're approved (for example, you are requesting the dates to be changed or you have a new internship site), you must submit a new CPT request.
All CPT must end by the last date of the last semester of your graduation. If you wish to continue working after graduation, then you can discuss applying for Post-Completion OPT with your international advisor. All hybrid and remote work will still count as CPT and a CPT application must be submitted prior to the CPT application deadline.
Because CPT must be tied to a class, if you cannot receive credit for the work you do, then you are not eligible for CPT. You would need to consider applying for pre-completion Optional Practical Training to accept a paid internship opportunity. Additionally, students who have completed all of the required degree courses are no longer eligible for CPT. Schedule an appointment to meet with an international student advisor to discuss this option.
While there is no limit on how much CPT a student can use during their time as an F-1 student, 365 days of full-time CPT use will automatically disqualify you from participating in any type of OPT.
If you decide not to participate in CPT before the authorized employment start date listed on your I-20, please contact your ISS advisor to request the cancelation of your CPT authorization in SEVIS. If you decide not to participate in CPT after the employment start date on your I-20 but before you have begun your work, you must contact your OISS advisor immediately so that ISS can contact SEVIS on your behalf to request the removal of the CPT authorization. This can be a lengthy process, so please be sure to inform ISS as quickly as possible so we can advise you of the required documentation. It is essential that your SEVIS record is accurate. Your work authorization for CPT must be canceled or removed if it does not occur.
During CPT, F-1 students are required to update their local, U.S. address within 10 days of moving to the new address if they must move for the opportunity. You can request an update of your address on your SEVIS via submittable. Once you arrive back at your usual location, you can request to change your address back.
Insurance on CPT:
While on CPT, all students who are completing internships must be covered by the UT systems insurance. The University of Texas System Board of Regents passed Regent Rule 50402, which as of Fall 2015, requires international students to have medical insurance compliant with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Students on an F-1 visa will be required to have this medical insurance coverage except, Mexican citizens or permanent resident students on F1, F2, and F3 (border commuter) visas attending UT System Border institutions residents.
All students completing an internship outside of the Rio Grande Valley are required to have insurance, regardless of their citizenship. You must be covered for the entirety of the time that you are away and if coverage is impossible due to missed deadlines or refusal to purchase insurance, then your CPT application will not be approved. For more information on the insurance, you can go here.