Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

Definition of CPT

Curricular Practical Training (or, CPT) are internships, cooperative education, student teaching placements, or practica you decide to do with sponsoring employers while you are in school at Champlain.

The training must be an integral part of an established curriculum, related to your major, essential to achieving an educational objective, and authorized by your P/DSO before you begin your internship (this includes orientations, onboarding exercises, etc).

At Champlain College, CPT can be required or recommended by your program. CPT can be paid or unpaid. It can be for credit or not for credit. 

Some academic scenarios for CPT are (this is not the exhaustive list so please speak to your P/DSO):

  1. You are taking a course for credit that is specifically called an internship course.
  2. You are scheduled to train/work at a job site where you complete either a project or specific training/work for a course taken for credit.
  3. You are expected to complete a work experience that is required of all students in the academic program, whether credit is given or not.
  4. You are expected to complete a work experience that fulfills a graduation requirement.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you don't obtain prior authorization from your P/DSO for CPT, you are considered in violation of status. In such cases, the P/DSO is required by U.S. federal regulations to immediately terminate your SEVIS record.

Eligibility

To be eligible for practical training permission, the student must:

  1. Hold valid F-1 non-immigrant status (i.e. be enrolled full-time and be maintaining legal status).
  2. Have been a full-time student in the U.S. for one academic year (i.e. two semesters) OR be a graduate student who is required to begin practical training immediately.

Application Procedure

1

You schedule a meeting with your academic advisor and complete the CPT Advisor Authorization Form.

2

By email, you send your potential employer the link to this sample letter here and they produce the official offer letter for the internship.

3

Once you have both the form and the letter complete, you schedule an appointment with your P/DSO and bring those documents to your appointment.

4

During the appointment, your P/DSO will evaluate the documents. If all the documents are in order, they will authorize CPT in SEVIS and issue an updated Form I-20. You must not work outside of the specified dates on the updated Form I-20.

5

You must be a registered, full-time student.

Please note that if you are in your last semester and have done a reduced course load, you are considered full-time and maintaining your status.

If you are participating in CPT in either the summer or winter terms, it is not necessary for you to be registered full-time in order to be authorized for training/employment for CPT; however, you must be pre-registered for the next required semester (i.e. you must be pre-registered for Fall if you are planning on doing a summer CPT opportunity).

Important Notes While On CPT

  • CPT employment is valid only for the dates of authorization. Authorization must be obtained each semester you will be participating in CPT.
  • Curricular Practical Training is authorized as part-time or full-time. Part-time practical training is limited to a maximum of 20 hours per week. Full-time practical training is anything over 20 hours a week.
  • There is no limit to the number of times you may participate in part-time CPT as long as you maintain valid F-1 student status.
  • If you use 365 days or more of full-time CPT, you are ineligible for Optional Practical Training (OPT).
  • You must report all changes to their P/DSO immediately.
  • If the training is paid, you will use your updated Form I-20 with CPT authorization to your employer as part of the I-9 process.