Curricular Practical Training

Curricular Practical Training (CPT) is work authorization granted to students on F-1 visas for paid internships or positions off campus and directly related to their major.

CPT allows you to work 20 hours or less each week during the academic year and up to 40 hours during the holiday and summer breaks.

Employers may or may not require that a student obtain a Social Security number. Please discuss this with your employer.

You should not begin work until your CPT is approved by the International Advisor. 

To be eligible for CPT

You must have been in lawful status as a full-time international student at CSU for one full academic year.

A Graduate student may receive permission to begin CPT immediately, if their program of study requires it.

There is no exception to this rule for undergraduate students. Your training must be directly related to your field of study and correspond with your educational level.

Your training must be a requirement of the program, and you must receive course credit.

Your CPT dates must align with the current semester start and end dates.

Applying for CPT

In order to apply for CPT you need to submit the following:

• CPT Checklist – To be completed by the student.
  Only need 1 per semester
  
• CPT Advisor Form- Send this link to your academic advisor (Music Students – to be completed by your music performance instructor).
  Only need 1 per semester.  
  
• CPT Employment Offer Letter – To be completed by your employer.
  Needed for EACH employer. May be used by employer instead of a formal letter.

CPT Approval

Once approved, the student will be issued a new I-20. More than one employer can be entered at a time, so please combine employment offers as much as possible to decrease the number of I-20's that need to be printed.

CPT must be approved for each semester, with new approval forms and employment letters submitted.

Forms must be received at least one week prior to performance/employment start.