- SEVP warned schools that CPT must be integral to an established curriculum, not optional training.
- Schools risk losing certification if they misclassify CPT, according to Broadcast Message 2608-02 issued August twenty-fourth, twenty twenty-six.
- DSOs must verify the academic link, update SEVIS, and use the SEVP tipline for pressured or improper attestations.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program issued new guidance August 24, 2026, warning schools about a rise in Curricular Practical Training authorizations that may violate federal requirements. Broadcast Message 2608-02 says the training must be an integral part of an established curriculum.
The message went to PDSOs and DSOs at SEVP-certified schools. It warns that noncompliance may result in an institution losing certification to enroll foreign students.
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The agency previously addressed the issue in Broadcast Message 2608-01, issued August 12, 2026. It linked accurate and timely reporting by schools and students to the operation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, a federal system used for program oversight, national security, and the integrity of educational and cultural exchange programs.
The new broadcast focuses on how schools must distinguish curricular training from optional employment. The distinction affects curriculum design, student participation, employer arrangements, and school records.
CPT covers several forms of required practical education. The broadcast lists alternative work/study, internships, cooperative education, and other required internships or practicums offered by sponsoring employers through school agreements.
Optional Practical Training, or OPT, serves a different role. It does not form part of a student’s established curriculum, fulfill a program requirement, or determine whether the student can complete the program. Participation is optional.
CPT works differently. A student’s successful completion of the relevant curriculum depends on taking part in the required training. The broadcast cites Merriam-Webster’s definition of “integral.”
“Integral” means “essential to completeness” as in, “an integral part of the curriculum.”
The curriculum must require training from every participating student
A school cannot preserve CPT’s required character by placing it in an elective course that students may choose to skip. If the course itself is optional, the training does not meet the integral and required standard described in the broadcast.
The requirement applies regardless of citizenship. All students, foreign and American, must participate when they enroll in an established curriculum that treats practical training as an integral part of the educational experience.
That rule prevents a program from presenting the placement as optional practical training for some students while requiring it for others. The same curriculum must apply the participation requirement across its student body.
SEVP said its audits and investigations found institutions describing CPT as though it were optional training. The agency also found schools that did not require every student in the same established curriculum to participate.
The broadcast says earlier messages had already explained the difference between CPT and OPT. It repeats that the training must be both integral and required.
A CPT request triggers academic and recordkeeping checks
Foreign students must submit an official request for authorization to their DSO. The school then has to verify the academic basis for the placement and update the federal record.
The guidance identifies three actions connected to that request:
- The school must confirm that the student is taking part in an established curriculum where practical training is integral.
- The DSO must determine that the training relates directly to the student’s major area of study.
- The school must update the student’s SEVIS record so the Department of Homeland Security can conduct oversight required under federal law.
The request therefore starts a school review. It does not, by itself, establish that a position qualifies as CPT.
The broadcast warns that a DSO who fails to maintain the required verification and records may face significant SEVP sanctions. It cites 8 C.F.R. §§ 214.2(f)(10)(i); 214.3(l)(2); 214.4(a)(2).
The reporting requirement also supports SEVP’s management of SEVIS. Schools and students supply information used to maintain the system and permit federal oversight.
School agreements must connect employers with qualifying placements
The message says schools should enter cooperative agreements only with legitimate, bona fide employers able to offer students a quality practical training experience. The arrangements must concern specified training connected to the academic program.
| Arrangement | Requirement in the broadcast |
|---|---|
| Employer status | The school should use a legitimate, bona fide employer able to provide a quality practical training experience. |
| School relationship | The employer must enter into a cooperative agreement with the school. |
| Training covered | The agreement may concern alternative work/study, an internship, cooperative education, or another required internship or practicum. |
| Academic connection | The specific training must relate to the student’s major area of study. |
| Work authorization | Students are not expected to obtain EADs for this integral and required curricular training. |
The broadcast describes the employer as sponsoring the school’s students for specific training through the cooperative arrangement. It does not describe the placement as independent work attached merely to enrollment.
The academic connection remains part of the qualification. The training must be specific to the student’s major area of study and part of a curriculum that requires it.
A confidential channel is available for pressured attestations
The guidance also addresses DSOs who believe school leadership is asking them to make questionable, improper, or noncompliant decisions or attestations for foreign students.
It covers situations in which an official is asked, directed, coerced, or otherwise pressured to make an attestation that the official believes conflicts with the regulations. The new SEVP tipline provides a confidential avenue for review by SEVP and Homeland Security Investigations.
The broadcast describes DSOs as important partners of the federal government in protecting the integrity of the foreign-student program. Their responsibilities in the guidance include reviewing the curriculum, checking the academic relationship, updating SEVIS, and making compliant attestations.
The document also limits its own legal effect. It says the broadcast is “not a substitute for applicable legal requirements” and is not itself a rule or a final action by SEVP.
It further says the message cannot create a substantive or procedural right or benefit enforceable by any party in an administrative, civil, or criminal matter. The underlying legal requirements remain the governing standard.
