In the United States, Curricular Practical Training (CPT) provides temporary employment authorization for

F-1 visa In the United States, the F visas are a type of non-Immigration to the United States, immigrant student visa (document), visa that allows foreigners to pursue education (academic studies and/or language training programs) in the United States. F ...

non-immigrant foreign students while enrolled in a college-level degree program. Students can receive employment authorization right after enrollment if the college deems the work "integral" to the student's study, such as a major course requirement or internship program. CPT allows students to work in both paid and unpaid jobs. CPT permission is granted through the institution's International Students Office or equivalent upon approval of the student’s designated school official (DSO), pursuant to regulations established by

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and Immigration to the United States, immigration system. History ...

."Practical Training"

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...

(ICE) The student must have secured the CPT opportunity prior to authorization. The student then receives an updated I-20 form once CPT is approved. There is no fee for CPT work authorization. Students who receive more than a year of full-time curricular practical training are ineligible for

Optional Practical Training In the United States, Optional Practical Training (OPT) is a period during which undergraduate and graduate students with F-1 status who have completed or have been pursuing their degrees for one academic year are permitted by the United States Ci ...

. Part-time CPT students who work less than twenty hours a week are still eligible for OPT. During the summer, students are able to work full-time on CPT if enrolled in a summer session course. In 2018, the number of employed international CPT students peaked at 151,525, a 147.7% increase from a decade prior when the number of CPT authorizations was 61,171. In 2021, there were 91,352 employed CPT workers, a 47% increase from a decade prior. In 2022, there were 129,849 CPT employment authorizations.

CPT Employment Authorization Statistics

American technology and financial firms, along with semiconductor companies, are major employers of CPT students. Amazon is the largest user of the CPT program, with 9,302 participating students between 2003-2019. Intel is the second largest user of the CPT program, with 6,453 students participating, while Microsoft is the third largest user of the program, with 6,340 students.

Criticism

Employer Discount

Students working with CPT authorization do not pay

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

and Medicare taxes if they have been in the United States for less than five years. For employers, hiring a CPT worker amounts to a 15.3% discount per student compared to an American citizen or permanent resident. Employers also avoid paying payroll taxes and do not have to provide health insurance to CPT students.

Lack of Government Oversight

Government officials have criticized the program because neither USCIS nor

have a direct role in determining whether the CPT work authorization is an “integral part of a curriculum."

Lack in Transparency

Detractors of the CPT program has criticized it for being non-transparent.

Career Placement

Critics have said the program provides entry-level career opportunities to foreign students while not doing the same for American college students.

Diploma Mill Colleges

Many have criticized CPT for incentivizing

diploma mill A diploma mill or degree mill is a business that sells illegitimate diplomas or academic degrees, respectively. The term ''diploma mill'' is also used pejoratively to describe any educational institution with low standards for admission and gradua ...

universities. In 2020, Immigration and Customs Enforcement set up the University of Farmington and arrested 250 foreign students for knowingly enrolling in the papermill college, which lacked teachers or classes. Many of the students enrolled in CPT to immediately gain work authorization in the U.S.

References

External links

Practical Training criteria
at

Education in the United States {{US-edu-stub