What is CPT?
Updated October 5, 2026 · 6 min read
Before you read on: This explains how CPT generally works. It is not legal advice, and your eligibility depends on your programme and your school's rules. Your designated school official (DSO) authorises CPT and is the right person to ask about your own case; for anything affecting your status, consult a licensed immigration attorney.
Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is employment authorisation for F-1 students where the work is an integral part of their established curriculum — a required internship, a co-op placement, or work tied to a course for academic credit. Unlike OPT it is authorised by the student's school rather than by USCIS, needs no Employment Authorization Document, and must be tied to a specific employer and dates.
What makes work eligible
The employment must be an integral part of the established curriculum. In practice that means a required internship, a co-operative education placement, a practicum, or work connected to a course for which the student receives academic credit.
That connection is the whole basis of the authorisation. Work that is merely useful experience in the field, without being part of the programme's curriculum, does not qualify however relevant it is.
Students generally must have been enrolled full-time for one academic year before becoming eligible, with limited exceptions for graduate programmes where immediate participation is required by the course design.
How it is authorised
The school authorises it, not USCIS. The student secures the offer, the designated school official records the authorisation in SEVIS and issues an updated I-20 showing the specific employer, location and dates.
That makes CPT quicker to obtain than OPT — there is no USCIS filing and no months of processing — but also narrower. It is valid only for the employer, location and period on the I-20. A change of employer requires a new authorisation, and working outside the authorised dates is unauthorised employment.
Part-time, full-time, and the OPT trade-off
CPT is part-time at 20 hours a week or less, or full-time above that. During term, students are generally limited to part-time; full-time CPT is typically for holiday periods or programmes designed around it.
The consequence worth knowing before you accept anything: twelve months or more of full-time CPT eliminates eligibility for OPT entirely. Part-time CPT does not, and neither does full-time CPT of less than twelve months.
That rule has ended more plans than any other detail in this area. A student who takes a full year of full-time CPT has traded away the twelve months of OPT, and with it the usual bridge to an H-1B.
A note on Day 1 CPT
Some programmes advertise CPT available from the first day of enrolment, marketed as a way to work immediately while studying. These arrangements have attracted sustained scrutiny, and enforcement action has been taken in relation to institutions where the study component was found not to be genuine.
The legal exposure falls on the student. Where authorisation is later found to have been improper, the consequence is unauthorised employment and a status violation — with the student, not the school, bearing it.
Anyone considering such a programme should take independent legal advice first, from an attorney with no connection to the institution.
Common questions
What is the difference between CPT and OPT?
CPT is tied to your curriculum, authorised by your school, specific to one employer, and available during study. OPT is broader work authorisation in your field, requires a USCIS application and an EAD, and is usually used after completing the programme.
Do I need an EAD for CPT?
No. CPT is authorised by your designated school official and recorded on your I-20. No USCIS application or Employment Authorization Document is required, which is why it is much faster than OPT.
Does CPT affect my OPT eligibility?
Twelve months or more of full-time CPT eliminates OPT eligibility entirely. Part-time CPT does not affect it, and nor does full-time CPT of less than twelve months.
Can I change employers on CPT?
Not without new authorisation. CPT is granted for a specific employer, location and date range shown on your I-20, and working outside those terms is unauthorised employment.