Employment Options

The regulations of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provide the following categories of employment benefits for students in F-1 status:

1. On-Campus employment

2. Curricular Practical Training (CPT) employment

3. Optional Practical Training (OPT) employment

4. Employment authorized due to Severe Economic Hardship

5. Employment with an International Organization

Definition of "employment"

Employment is any work performed or services provided in exchange for money, tuition, books, supplies, room and board, or any other benefit or compensation. Only if you will receive absolutely no benefit or compensation of any kind at any time is an activity considered by the USCIS to be "unpaid volunteering."

Unauthorized employment is a serious violation of student status. Please contact the International Student Center if you ever have any questions or any doubt about whether you are authorized to accept an offer of employment.

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1. EMPLOYMENT ON CAMPUS

You are eligible to work on campus after you have successfully completed one semester at Cerritos College. You may work part-time (up to 20 hours per week) during the fall and spring semesters and full-time (up to 40 hours per week) during the summer if: your I-20 is valid at Cerritos College, you are in good academic standing, and you are enrolled full-time. Enrollment is optional during summer session. Please see an advisor at International Student Center for more information.

2. CURRICULAR PRACTICAL TRAINING (CPT)

If you have been successfully enrolled full time at Cerritos College for at least one full academic year, (or are in a course of study requiring an internship at the beginning of your program), you may request International Student Center authorization for employment in an internship or cooperative education program that is "integral to the established curriculum" of your academic department. Required internships must be clearly identified and described in the course catalogue or similar publication and must be a class registered on your course schedule. Internships and internship-like cooperative education programs which are awarded academic credit do not need to be required. Curricular practical training may be authorized on either a full-time (employment over 20 hours per week) or a part-time basis. Part-time CPT must be undertaken concurrent with a full course of study. Full-time CPT does not require full-time enrollment. Students who have been authorized for one year or more of full-time CPT are no longer eligible for OPT.

3. OPTIONAL PRACTICAL TRAINING (OPT)

After you have been successfully enrolled full time at Cerritos College for at least one full academic year, you may apply to the USCIS for up to 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) authorization to accept employment related to your field of study. Full-time OPT is available:

A. After completion of a course of study (The application (I-765 form) must be submitted to the USCIS prior to completion of studies. A suggestion is at least three months before your graduation date.).

B. Although full-time or part-time Vacation OPT authorization is also available during the summer and over the winter break, (and on a part-time basis during the regular academic year), it is not a good idea because of the length of time required for the USCIS to issue the required Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Most students might be eligible for CPT authorization instead. Please be prepared to plan ahead. It may take the USCIS more than three months to issue your OPT Employment Authorization Document (EAD).

4. Severe Economic Hardship

Should you suffer from economic hardship due to "unforeseen financial circumstances beyond your control" and after you have successfully been in F-1 status for one academic year, you can apply to the USCIS for authorization to work off campus in any job you can find off campus (i.e. even one unrelated to your studies). Examples of unforeseen circumstances include "loss of financial resources from your financial sponsor or substantial fluctuations in the value of currency or exchange rate, inordinate increases in tuition and/or living costs, unexpected changes in the financial condition of the student's source of support, medical bills, or other substantial and unexpected expenses."

Please visit or contact the International Student Center for more information regarding any of these employment options for F-1 students.