Skip to main content

How to Get CPT With Spring Enrollment?

The prerequisite for this approach is that you must be a US undergrad. The core requirement for CPT is that you must have completed at least one academic year (two semesters) of full-time study. Therefore, if you're applying to a one-year spring-entry program, or if you deferred your Fall offer to Spring — for example, Cornell CS MEng or Yale MSCS 1 Year — but you're a US undergrad who has previously studied in the US for at least one consecutive semester (which virtually all US undergrads satisfy), then adding the first semester at your graduate school meets the one academic year (two semesters) requirement.

It's important to note that your undergraduate and master's I-20 cannot be swapped out — otherwise you won't be able to apply for CPT. The correct approach is to transfer your I-20 from your undergraduate institution to your graduate institution. However, this creates an additional issue: the I-20 transfer requirement stipulates that the gap between when your undergraduate F-1 status ends and when your master's F-1 status begins cannot exceed 5 months.

So, what if you graduate from undergrad in May but your spring-entry master's program doesn't start until January, creating a gap of more than 5 months? The solution is:

  1. Use the F-1 Grace Period (60-day grace period) — after graduating from undergrad, your F-1 status remains valid for two more months.

  2. Before the grace period ends, activate your undergraduate OPT (even if you won't actually use it). OPT can last a minimum of 3 months.

  3. This way, your F-1 status can extend until October, and the gap between October and the following January is only 3 months, which satisfies the I-20 transfer requirement.

I Don't Want to Go Through All That Hassle — Are There Other Options?​

Yes.

  1. Extend graduation at your undergraduate school by one semester
  2. Enroll at an affordable school (e.g., UIUC or GT) for one semester, then transfer
  3. Enroll at a Day 1 CPT school for one semester, then transfer
  4. Find an unpaid company to sponsor your OPT (you maintain F-1 status during OPT)

Some Case Studies​

CMU SESV only supports spring enrollment if you were a full-time student in the preceding fall semester. CMU SESV spring CPT — for details, see:

Cornell is more lenient — they support spring enrollment even if you're on OPT status beforehand. As long as the student is a US undergrad and can transfer their undergraduate I-20 over, they can enroll in Cornell CS MEng spring and obtain CPT. For details, see: