Northeastern International Students Limited to One U.S. Co-op Under New Federal CPT Guidance

International students at Northeastern University can no longer complete more than one co-op in the United States, according to an email from the university's Office of Global Services reported by The Huntington News, Northeastern's independent student newspaper.

The change affects Curricular Practical Training, or CPT, which allows students on F-1 visas to complete internships and work experience. Students on visas must apply and be approved for CPT before going on co-op.

What changed

The new guidelines follow two broadcast messages issued in August by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP, which stated that universities may authorize CPT only when it is "integral to the curriculum" of a degree program, The Huntington News reported. The Aug. 24 message said SEVP had observed an uptick in "authorizations that appear to violate regulatory requirements which permit CPT only where the training is an integral part of an established curriculum."

Under the new approach, Northeastern can approve CPT applications only when they relate to "a specific curricular requirement" or a graduation requirement, according to OGS.

Northeastern requires students to complete one experiential learning experience to graduate, which can be satisfied by a co-op, a Dialogue of Civilizations program or other options. As of 2024, 95% of Northeastern students completed a co-op to meet that requirement, The Huntington News reported.

Ed Gavaghan, Northeastern's media relations manager, wrote in an Oct. 12 email to the paper that, as a result of the federal guidance, "OGS can only authorize CPT for experiential learning opportunities that are required by a student's academic program or by Northeastern's experiential learning graduation requirement."

Because the graduation requirement is generally satisfied by one co-op, most F-1 students will be eligible for CPT authorization only once, Gavaghan said. "A student may be eligible for CPT authorization for a second co-op if their academic program requires it for all students in that program," he added.

Litigation expected

"We fully expect this new DHS guidance to be challenged in court," Gavaghan wrote. "Northeastern is in discussions with peer institutions about potential litigation."

The Huntington News reported that several universities, including Boston University and Harvard University, have temporarily paused CPT approval for non-required internships.

Gavaghan said Northeastern has 4,500 global employer partners and that job opportunities abroad "will continue to grow." He said students can pursue alternative experiential learning, "including: internships, clinical experiences, and industry sponsored projects as part of academic courses."

Students describe the impact

Chao Song, a fourth-year communication studies and media and screen studies major from China, completed his first co-op at the Mills College Art Museum on Northeastern's Oakland campus. This fall he received an offer to work part-time while taking classes, but his CPT request was denied in early September, according to an OGS email shared with the paper.

"They told me because I have done a co-op before, which has fulfilled my experiential learning requirements to graduate, for that reason and under the current federal laws, they cannot give me a second CPT," Song said.

Neval Iyilik, a third-year economics and psychology major from Turkey, said she transferred to Northeastern from Arizona State University specifically for the co-op program. "It's very disappointing when you can't experience the same experience that you were promised as other students just because of your visa status," she said. "If I knew that this was gonna be the case before coming here, I wouldn't have come here."

A pre-med international student who was granted anonymity said the change limits clinical and research experience. Song described a Sept. 22 drop-in session hosted by the College of Arts, Media and Design as "pretty devastating because our advisers basically know as much as we do."

Harvard lobbies on visa cap

Federal rules for international students are also drawing attention at Harvard. The university lobbied in the third quarter on a congressional resolution that would overturn a federal rule imposing a four-year cap on F and J visas, The Harvard Crimson reported, citing disclosures released Monday. The filing does not say whether Harvard lobbied for or against the resolution. Harvard spent $200,000 on federal lobbying in the quarter.

The cap is shorter than many Ph.D. programs. A federal judge temporarily blocked the rule one day before it was set to take effect in September but denied a request for summary judgment without prejudice, The Crimson reported. Harvard President Alan M. Garber called the rule "odd" in a July interview, noting that "a typical Ph.D. program usually takes at least six years."