CPT Instructions for International Graduate Students

You can apply for Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization when you receive an internship offer letter from the employer. You will need to make an appointment with the graduate career advisor in the CoE career center before submitting an Experiential Learning Request in SPIRE, enrolling in a 1 credit practicum course and applying for your CPT I-20.   

You can also view these instructions as a PDF here >>

IMPORTANT NOTES

• Students must be on-campus during the last semester of their degree completion. 
• Interning without a completed work authorization (CPT I-20) for your employment will cause you to be out of F-1 Visa status and you could be asked to leave the country. 
• Remote Internships cannot be paired with remote/online course enrollment. In the situation where the internship is remote; students must be enrolled in on campus, in-person course/s to maintain F-1 visa status.    
• On-site internships are only eligible for one (1) online course enrollment. 
• A “Semester Long Internship" must span the entire academic semester and must not overlap with a summer or winter break term; offers that extend beyond a one term require additional approval.  

FOLLOW THESE STEPS  

1. Engineering Career Center: Schedule an appointment with Christina Mata via Handshake or [email protected] to review the offer letter and required CPT process.  
2. The job offer letter must contain the following:  
   • Be addressed to you and written on company letterhead (including company address)  
   • Provide a job title and brief description of duties 
   • The number of hours the student will work per week 
   • An exact employment start and end date 
   • Complete address where the work will take place (street, city, state and zip code) 
   • Salary and related compensation 
3. Email your advisor and cc’ Associate Dean Caitlyn Butler at [email protected] with your offer letter requesting approval for your internship and the one (1) credit CPT practicum course required. Your advisor will forward their approval, including the offer letter, to Professor Butler. Please also CC: [email protected]  
4. Once you receive both email approvals, complete an Experiential Learning Request (ELR) in SPIRE: Click on Academics tile, go to Forms and Academic Requests tab, select Experiential Learning Request, click Create a New Request. Fill out the required information, then upload your offer letter.  Choose only the initial internship if you have multi-term internships. In the box requesting the “catalogue number” you will enter 698. 
5. After you submit the completed SPIRE request, you will get an email response about next steps in applying for CPT. After advisor approval, you will check SPIRE to see if there is a practicum course “section” for the semester you are interning with your advisor as the instructor.  If there is not a section listed, please ask your advisor to work with the appropriate department administrator to have a practicum section in the 698 course created. Once the course is created, request an enrollment appointment for your practicum credit course. When the registration is completed, you will see the 1 credit in SPIRE. The course creation process may take several days. 
6. Take a screenshot of your 1 credit practicum course in your SPIRE and have all documents (Offer letter, SPIRE approval and screenshot of SPIRE practicum credit) ready to upload for CPT application on the Eform portal by visiting the OGA website. (You will go to Application Steps, Step 5.) 
   • After logging in, you will be prompted to upload the above documents.  
   • Once approved, you will receive an email from the Office of Global Affairs (OGA) with your I-20 authorization. 
   • As a reminder, you are not legally authorized to begin CPT employment until you have received approval confirmations and a new I-20 form from OGA. 
7. If you are eligible for a Graduate Externship Tuition Waiver for the one (1) credit practicum course, after meeting with your Graduate Career Advisor to review instructions, you will complete the forms below and have them DocuSigned by your employer, HR, Academic Advisor, GPD, Department Head, and the Associate Dean. Request a PDF fillable forms from Christina Mata: [email protected].
   1. Request for Tuition Credit/Academic Approval Form
   2. Employment Verification (Employer fills out and signs)
   3. Externship Evaluation (Complete post-experience)

Send your completed and signed “Request for Tuition Credit/Academic Approval” forms A and B, including your offer letter and your I-20 to the  Graduate School Assistantship Office at: [email protected]. Please make sure to copy [email protected] in your email  

Please refer to the OGA website on work authorization and CPT & OPT for a more comprehensive understanding of how going on CPT may affect your eligibility for future post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT), travel considerations, and social security card Information. 

Additional Questions? Please contact Christina Mata, Associate Director of Graduate Career Programs, Engineering Career Center: [email protected] or Evan Coyne, Immigration advisor in the Office of Global Affairs at: [email protected].

*Please note that each interning student must be enrolled in a course section of each the CPT internship practicum credit course.

• Biomedical Engineering:  BMED-ENG 698 
• Chemical Engineering: CHEM-ENG 698 
• Civil & Environmental Engineering: CE-ENG 698 
• Electrical & Computer Engineering:  E&C-ENG 698 
• Mechanical & Industrial Engineering: M&I-ENG 698 

You can apply for Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization when you have received a paid summer or winter term internship offer from the employer. 

You will need: A formal job offer letter, an appointment with the Engineering Career Center graduate advisor, submission of an Experiential Learning Request in SPIRE, enrollment in a 1 credit practicum credit and submission of an application for your CPT I-20. 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Students must be on-campus during the last semester of their degree completion. Interning without a completed work authorization (CPT I-20) for your employment will cause you to be out of F-1 Visa status and you could be asked to leave the country. 
• A summer or winter break internship must not overlap with an academic semester.
• You are not legally authorized to begin CPT employment until you have received approval confirmations and a new I-20 form from OGA. 

 FOLLOW THESE STEPS  

1. Engineering Career Center: Schedule an appointment with Christina Mata via Handshake or [email protected]. to review offer letter and required CPT process 
2. The job offer letter must contain the following: 
   1. Be addressed to you and written on company letterhead (including company address)  
   2. Provide a job title and brief description of duties  
   3. The number of hours the student will work per week (Students may work up to 40 hours per week during summer or winter session. A summer or winter break internship must not overlap with an academic semester).   
   4. An exact employment start and end date  
   5. Complete address where the work will take place (street, city, state and zip code) 
   6. If the work will be done remotely, that should also be indicated 
   7. Salary and related compensation
3. Email your advisor, cc’ Associate Dean Caitlyn Butler at [email protected] with your offer letter requesting approval for your internship and the one (1) credit CPT practicum course required. Your advisor will forward their approval, including the offer letter, to Professor Butler. Please also CC: [email protected].  
4. Once you receive both approvals, complete an Experiential Learning Request in SPIRE: Click on the Academics tile, go to Forms and Academic Requests tab, select Experiential Learning Request, click Create a New Request. Fill out the required information, then upload your offer letter. In the box requesting catalogue number, you will enter 698. Choose only the primary internship term if you have an internship for more than 1 term (ex.: winter and spring). You will need a new ELR  I-20 for a new term’s internship.
5. After you submit the completed SPIRE, you will get an email response about next steps in applying for CPT. You will then need to request a University+ Enrollment Appointment in SPIRE for your 1 credit CPT Practicum course. The UMass Career Hub will get you enrolled in the 1 credit practicum course after your ELR is approved. When the registration is completed, you will see the 1 credit in SPIRE 
6. Take a screenshot of your 1 credit internship practicum course and have all documents (offer letter, SPIRE approval email and screenshot of the 1 credit practicum) ready to upload to apply for CPT authorization on the Eform Portal by visiting the OGA website: go to Application Steps, Step 5.
   • After logging in, you will be prompted to upload the above documents.  
   • Once approved, you will receive an email from the Office of Global Affairs (OGA) with your I-20 authorization. 
   • As a reminder, you are not legally authorized to begin CPT employment until you have received approval confirmations and a new I-20 form from OGA. 

Additional Questions? Please contact Christina Mata, Associate Director of Graduate Career Programs, Engineering Career Center: [email protected] or Evan Coyne, Immigration advisor in the Office of Global Affairs at: [email protected] 

Please refer to the OGA website on work authorization and CPT & OPT for a more comprehensive understanding of how going on CPT may affect your eligibility for future post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT), travel considerations, and social security card Information. 

Practicum/Internship 1 credit course numbers for CPT 

• Biomedical Engineering:  BMED-ENG 698 
• Chemical Engineering: CHEM-ENG 698 
• Civil & Environmental Engineering: CE-ENG 698 
• Electrical & Computer Engineering:  E&C-ENG 698 
• Mechanical & Industrial Engineering: M&I-ENG 698