The Department of Homeland Security maintains a catalog of more than 500 degree programs across 22 fields that can qualify foreign students for an extended period of U.S. work authorization. The 24-month STEM Optional Practical Training extension can add two years to the standard 12 months of post-completion OPT, for as many as 36 months in total.
The catalog covers science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, but students do not qualify simply because a course sounds technical. Their major’s six-digit Classification of Instructional Programs code must match an entry on the federal list.
The extension lets eligible graduates work in the United States without immediate employer sponsorship. It can also provide time to gain experience before seeking an employer-sponsored visa.
DHS’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, under Homeland Security Investigations, maintains the catalog. The list identifies qualifying fields through CIP titles and codes.
F-1 graduates must meet the academic and employer tests
Students need F-1 status, a qualifying degree and approved post-completion OPT related to that degree. Their employer must be enrolled in E-Verify, and the student and employer must complete Form I-983, a training plan documenting how the job relates to the student’s field.
Students file Form I-765 before their current OPT authorization expires. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services lists the current filing fee on its fee schedule. The extension is available to eligible F-1 students from any country; the rules do not establish nationality-based quotas. The program operates under 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C).
Eligibility also requires applying within the permitted time frame and holding a qualifying bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree. USCIS guidance addresses when students may apply for the extension.
The catalog groups broad sciences and less obvious degree fields
The STEM Designated Degree Program List identifies four broad subject areas: Engineering, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, and Physical Sciences. New programs classified within those core areas qualify without separate placement on the list.
DHS also recognizes 18 related subject groups. They include Computer and Information Sciences, Health Professions, Architecture, Natural Resources and Conservation, Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, Psychology, Social Sciences, Business and Management, and Communication and Journalism.
Some entries may be less readily associated with STEM. They include Animation and Interactive Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Landscape Architecture, Food Science, Soil Microbiology, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, and Nanotechnology. The catalog’s breadth reflects how degree programs are classified, not just how students or universities describe them.
The classification follows the federal government’s CIP taxonomy. A course name, department or broad subject label is not enough: the student’s major code must line up with a listed code.
A program title alone does not establish STEM eligibility
Universities designate individual degree programs, so similar majors can receive different treatment at the same school. A Master of Science in Computer Science will almost always qualify, while a Master of Arts in Computer Science might not, depending on its curriculum and classification. A business analytics program can qualify at one university and fail to qualify at another.
Iowa State University sets additional limits for its own eligible offerings: programs must be in person and on campus. Online programs and certificate programs do not qualify there, and the extension applies only to eligible master’s and Ph.D. graduate programs.
The university lists roughly 59 eligible undergraduate majors and more than 90 eligible graduate programs. Its examples include Agronomy, Animal Science, Business Analytics, Climate Science, Culinary Food Science, Data Science, Diet and Exercise, Game Design, Horticulture, Management Information Systems, Meteorology, Seed Science, and Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation and Ecology.
USCIS’s 2024 guidance took effect immediately
USCIS issued Policy Alert PA-2024-22 on August 27, 2024, and made it effective immediately. The guidance applied to requests pending or filed on or after publication and replaced earlier policy guidance on STEM OPT. The agency said the alert “corrects the time period during which students may apply for STEM OPT extensions and makes other technical corrections.” The policy alert details the changes.
A longer post-graduation work period can give graduates more time to build experience and demonstrate their value to employers. It can also create as many as three opportunities to enter the H-1B visa lottery during the work-authorized period, rather than one. Indian students particularly value the added time because it extends work authorization after graduation from 12 months to 36 months.
The extension can also serve as a bridge to employer-sponsored work visas and permanent residence applications.
