Overview
- A Student and Exchange Visitor Program memo dated Aug. 24 said Curricular Practical Training must be an integral part of an established curriculum and warned institutions they could lose SEVP certification for noncompliance.
- In response, multiple universities including UC Berkeley and UCLA have paused processing certain new CPT or work-authorization applications while they review the memo and adjust procedures.
- UC Berkeley extended its pause for the foreseeable future but will continue to process degree-required CPT and research CPT for doctoral dissertation and master’s thesis work, and it said existing approved work authorizations remain valid.
- Students say the pause will make it harder for F-1 visa holders to get off-campus internships that are not formal degree requirements, a change that could reduce on-ramps into U.S. research and industry jobs.
- Universities are consulting legal counsel and weighing administrative or legal responses as reporting frames the action as part of broader federal scrutiny of higher education that could affect recruitment, research pipelines, and campus programs.