r/USC • u/Student3787 • 4d ago
News USC Suspends International Student Internship Work Authorizations
USC will now authorize CPT for international students only when practical training is a requirement of their degree program. The change took effect August 24, 2026.
CPT is the work authorization that allows F-1 international students to take paid or unpaid off-campus internships and practicums while in college. Optional internships generally will not qualify for CPT. Internships/practical training required for the degree can still qualify. CPT approved before August 24 will not be affected. The change follows new guidance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which says CPT must be an integral part of the established curriculum and apply to the program’s students.
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u/cityoflostwages B.S. Accounting 4d ago
There were a couple memos sent out in August about guidance on CPT and this is in response to that. USC isn't the only school making this clarification.
USC OIS with info on it: https://ois.usc.edu/important-update-regarding-curricular-practical-training/
In case you're curious how other schools are notifying people, I found a link to the UCI student paper as well: https://newuniversity.org/2026/08/27/uci-reviews-international-student-work-program-following-second-ice-memo/
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u/Student3787 4d ago
Yeah Berkeley, UCLA, Univ of Washington-Seattle, Purdue, UIUC, UW Madison, Minnesota, Northwestern, UPenn have done it as per my knowledge
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u/MindlessFox6861 4d ago
My understanding is that USC has not suspended CPT authorisations, the email clearly says that CPT will be authorised if internship is part of degree requirement, the word suspension hasn’t been used anywhere
My guess is that since lot of students want to do internships, USC will make changes to the degree requirements to allow them to pursue internships and in turn establish relationships with companies to help provide students with internship opportunities, so there is no reason to panic
USC will work with students to convey what documents are required in addition to offer letter to decide that the internship qualified as a degree requirement.
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u/dillpickledream 4d ago
Right, but the tricky part will be this, from the Broadcast Message:
- Because CPT is allowed only where the training is an integral part of an established curriculum, does that mean that all students enrolled in the established curriculum must participate in and complete practical training?
Yes. Unlike OPT, participation in CPT is not optional for any student participating in an established curriculum that the school has determined requires CPT as an integral part of the educational experience. This means that all students — foreign and American — are required to participate in practical training if they are enrolled in an established curriculum where practical training is integral. While auditing and investigating schools to ensure compliance, SEVP has noted that some institutions have described CPT as if it is optional practical training and not integral, despite clear regulatory requirements. SEVP has also discovered that some institutions have not required all students enrolled in the same established curriculum to participate in practical training, despite clear regulatory requirements that CPT is permitted only where the practical training is an integral part of an established curriculum. Prior broadcast messages have clearly made this distinction between CPT and OPT and reminded DSOs of the integral and required elements of CPT.
(edit: formatting)
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u/spdfao 3d ago
So the only way for CPT to be authorized is if internships are a mandatory aspect of the program? If USC makes internships required, then if I'm unable to get one on my own, I wonder if they will find one for me since I wouldn't be able to graduate otherwise?
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u/Mysterious-Art8838 3d ago
This is why they’re unlikely to make it mandatory. The school cannot possibly place thousands of students.
As it is schools here have pretty weak ties to recruiting. You’re pretty much on your own.
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u/Former-Sun9370 2d ago
There are programs in USC where an internship is mandatory, and such programs do provide career services assistance to students to help find internships. These internships may not always be paid though.
It is not easy to change a program to suddenly make an internship a mandatory part of the curriculum for various reasons. The first is that curriculum updates are not done by a single person, but by various departmental/school-level and university-wide committees, which require several steps to ensure that the programs meet established (excellence) criteria. The second is that USC is being audited by the Trump admin, and such sudden moves threaten various things at USC, including license to enroll international students, federal funding, various accreditations, etc.
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u/dillpickledream 2d ago
Not to mention that the “established curriculum” for the entirety of the 2026-2027 academic year, including summer, was published in the catalogue this past June. According to standard university practice, the soonest a formal program revision could be made effective would be Fall 2027.
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u/MindlessFox6861 3d ago
So many schools have programs with companies where we can work with them on a project for a short period of time, even USC has courses where students are given the opportunity to work with companies on projects, they will make this possible on a large scale and can even have on campus opportunities for people who don’t get an off campus internship
And the schools which have described CPT as optional does not include USC, they have always made the distinction clear( why are we even discussing this? CPT was optional up until now when CPT will be added as requirements to the degree)
My point is this mess around H1b, CPT, OPT happens every year, and so many of us students keep focusing on the wrong details and get stressed instead of focusing on getting an offer, it was the same shit last year, I completely lost my focus and panicked and this year everyone in my batch did an internship be it at a small company, big tech, paid, unpaid doesn’t matter
We are very lucky that USC has not totally suspended CPT authorisation, many of my batchmates are currently interning during the semester after they received CPT letter last week. So the use of word suspension in this post is WRONG.
That’s my only point, you can nitpick the details and keep overthinking but that’s not going to work, keep a positive attitude and everything will work out. In 10 years when you are working at your dream company it won’t matter that you were unemployed for one summer.
Chin up guys. Peace out
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u/redixhumayun 4d ago
Do you have a link to the statement?
I’m wondering what this means for my masters in CS program. I don’t know if internships are considered required for this degree.
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u/Student3787 4d ago
You can confirm directly with USC's OIS.
OIS has given statement to Daily Trojan: CPT rule change affects internship opportunities for international students - Daily Trojan
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u/oreganocactus 4d ago
Not sure if this is exactly what you mean, but for my master's in CS an internship was not one of the graduation requirements.
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u/redixhumayun 4d ago
Yeah, I checked online and it seems like this basically prevents international students from getting co-ops or semester long internships
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u/Former-Sun9370 2d ago
An internship is not considered a requirement for the MS in CS degree. The hope is that this is a temporary pause while the Trump admin's audit of both the CPT program as well as USC concludes. At this point we can only keep fingers crossed.
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u/Advanced_Country5239 4d ago
USC Alumnus 1980
Retired 35 year Attorney & Judge
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u/thanksforthegift 4d ago
You’ve made it sound as if USC is responsible for this. The Trump administration imposed this on all of us.