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Curricular Practical Training (CPT) for International Students

As an international student, you can work in the U.S. if your work experience is part of curricular practical training (CPT).  Once you have a confirmed offer for an internship, whether off-campus or on-campus, you will need to do several things. 

Summer 2023 internship dates span May 8 through August 11. The fall 2023 dates for internships span August 23 through December 15. Spring 2024 CPT dates run from January 8 through May 2. Your offer letter MUST include start and end dates within these dates.  You may not accept internship offers outside these dates.

Here are the steps you need to take:

  • Complete this VUSE internship form.
    • If a summer internship, this form will enable you to get a subsidy for all but $200 of one credit hour of tuition for this internship. Type or use ink. The course number is ES 3884. 
    • Tuition subsidies do not apply to internships during the academic year, though the form is still required. 
  • Start to complete the CPT application form using the ISSS student portal.
  • Email engineeringdeansoffice@vanderbilt.edu the following four items:
    • a pdf copy of the email with your internship quiz results, 
    • the completed VUSE internship form, 
    • your offer letter containing work start/stop dates, 
    • and technical answers to the following two questions
      1. Explain how the practical training is an integral part of the student's program of study.Your internship must be closely tied to your program of study, and thus it must tie into what you've learned in your classroom experience. Here is an example answer for this question: “The student will be learning field practices involved in the life-cycle of construction project planning and implementation.  The internship will require application of concepts learned in structural analysis, structural design, and construction project management classes that the student has taken.”
      2. Describe the specific goals and objectives that will be achieved through the practical training and how they are related to the student’s major program of study. Here is an example answer for this question:  “The student will work with other developers to make genomic data available via mCODE in Microsoft’s Azure platform.  The student will learn to process genomics data in the format of mCODE and explore how to store those in the cloud using the Azure platform.  The student is expected to explore cloud computing and database programming as well as gain experience in data processing in preparation for more advanced coursework and for completion of the senior project required in the student’s major.”