Information for Currently Enrolled International Students

There are several areas of special interest to international students. These are related mostly to the conditions surrounding work and visa restrictions, including Curricular Practical Training and Optional Practical Training. This page addresses the policies associated with those issues. For further information, please contact the Graduate School (gradschool@uconn.edu, 860/486-3615).

Internships and Curricular Practical Training

This type of work permission allows students to accept employment in a student’s major field of study. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services defines “Curricular Practical Training” (CPT) as employment which is an integral or important part of your curriculum. This includes alternate work/study, internships, cooperative education, or any other type of required internship or practicum that is offered by sponsoring employers through cooperative agreements with the school. Please note that you may not apply for a CPT until you have completed one year in your program.

The University of Connecticut has established two formal graduate courses for students participating in CPT, GRAD 5924 (formerly GRAD 381, Part time CPT, 1-3 credits) and GRAD 5925 (formerly GRAD 380, Full-time CPT, 3 credits). You are required to register for one of these courses to put your CPT experience on your reocrd. The choice of the course is based on the level of commitment you have to the CPT. More detailed information on these courses can be found in the graduate catalog.

The choice of which course to use will be determined by the Graduate School, based on the internship offer letter, your intent to enroll in other courses, and the number of hours of you will be employed.

All of your CPT paperwork must be completed and approved by the Graduate School before the start of your internship experience. All internships must be added to your academic plan of study.

For more information on how to apply for curricular practical training, please contact the Department of International Services and Programs (DISP).

Optional Practical Training

If you hold an F-1 visa and you desire to work full time in the U.S. after completion of of your degree requirements, you may apply for optional practical training in your field of study. If you participated in full-timecurricular practical training for one year or more, you are ineligible for optional practical training. To be eligible for OPT, you must file your OPT paperwork prior to completing all requirements for the degree. This is a government requirement and cannot be waived or overridden.

For more information on how to apply for optional practical training, please contact the Department of International Services and Programs (DISP).

Continuous Registration

As an international student, the terms of your F-1 or J-1 status require you to remain registered full-time for the duration of your study in the U.S. There is one exception to this rule in the SEVIS regulations, the Reduced Credit Load (RCL) semester. Ordinarily, this exception is applied at either the beginning or the end of your program. At the beginning it could be for cultural adjustment or English language training. At the end (a more common occurrence) it could be for final processing and revising of your thesis or dissertation. At UConn the courses used for this purpose are GRAD 5998 and 5999 at the master's level and GRAD 6998 and 6999 at the doctoral level. Because of the potential to fall out of status by inadvertent registration, the Graduate School monitors international students carefully for these registrations. You should always consult with the Graduate School before registering for one of these courses. If you are a Plan A (thesis) master's student or a doctoral student you are permitted to register for zero credits for a maximum of one year (two semesters). If you are a Plan B (nonthesis) master's student, you are permitted to have only one semester of zero-credit registration.

If you plan to use this option in any term, there is a form available that puts this fact in your SEVIS file in the DISP Office.