Curricular Practical Training (CPT)

Santa Clara University offers international students with F-1 immigration status in the MBA/MSBA/MSIS/MSFA programs the opportunity to engage in Curricular Practical Training in accordance with Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) regulations.

To be eligible to participate in CPT, students should contact the International Students and Scholars. Eligible students will be manually enrolled by their program office. MBA and MS students may take a maximum of three 1-unit CPT courses during their time in the program.  

Enriches the academic experience of students through a structured experiential-learning program. Designed as a partnership between the Leavey School of Business, partner employers, and the student.  The student is responsible to secure the internship on their own. Experiences gained through an internship complements classroom learning, and provides an extension of the classroom experience, integrating theory and practice and contributes to graduation. Courses cannot be repeated for credit (each course is worth 1 unit) and the limit of CPT course units is 3 units throughout the duration of the program. The process for this option is as follows:

• Students are responsible to ensure they meet all rules and policies in place by ISS in order to grant authorization for the CPT.
• Once ISS confirms eligibility, they get the CPT form from them and have it signed by all relevant parties (i.e employer and faculty advisor) and send it to the programs team for processing.
• The programs team approves and enrolls the student in the corresponding CPT course once the completed form is processed. The student is notified of the enrollment after which they inform ISS for authorization.
• Students are responsible to ensure all dates and timelines are within the ISS and Graduate Business Programs department processing guidelines. Please note there are deadlines to enrollment per quarter and if the internship is secured after the deadline you will have to enroll in the following quarter.

Optional Practical Training (OPT)

This training allows  international students the ability to work for a year or more post graduation in a job or internship related to their major. It allows the now SCU international alumni to take their training to the next level and gain further experience in  their fields. Securing a job prior to applying for OPT is not a requirement and it is recommended students begin their OPT application 4 months prior to graduation but not exceeding 90 days prior to your program end date. The form is obtained from ISS and must be signed by you and your academic programs team before submission for authorization. Students should reach out to ISS with all questions regarding this process, eligibility and timelines.