There are a few international students in a year who show their interest in starting their degree/program in the summer instead of the spring term or the fall term. Do immigration regulations allow international students to start in the summer? Yes, however, there are a few things international students should consider before registering for summer classes.

Note that this blog post is for incoming, new international students whose SEVIS record is in “Initial” status. Current international students can take summer classes just like other domestic students. Click the following article to learn if you can take summer classes from other institutions in the U.S.

Related blog post: Can international students take summer/winter classes at different universities?

Contents

• How starting in summer impacts international students’ CPT/ OPT participation
• Full-time requirement for international students
• Taking summer online courses and your Form I-20

How starting in summer impacts international students’ CPT/ OPT participation

International students who would like to engage in off-campus internship opportunities during their stay and study in the U.S. need to get CPT authorized. Likewise, students who would like to work in the U.S. need to get authorization to participate in the OPT program. If you are not familiar with CPT or OPT, it is highly recommended to go to the CPT/OPT page and start reading blog posts including the following posts.

Related blog post 1: CPT allows internship for international students in USA
Related blog post 2: Must-know 4 eligibility for student visa OPT

Since international students must be compliant with immigration regulations at all times, it is important to familiarize yourself with CPT and OPT rules. One of the important eligibility to get CPT/OPT authorization is that students must complete a full academic year in F-1 status before being able to apply for practical training (CPT, OPT).

An F-1 student must have been “lawfully enrolled on a full-time basis in a Service-approved college, university, conservatory, or seminary for one full academic year” to be eligible for CPT or OPT.

[8 CFR 214.2(F)(10)]

It is worth noting that summer does not count towards fulfilling this one full academic year requirement. Therefore, it’s important to consider that starting in the summer term will delay a student’s ability to apply for practical training opportunities.

To help you better understand this “full academic year” requirement for practical training participation, I will give you an example. Let’s suppose that you are a graduate student who’s enrolled in a 3 semesters-long program. International students who start in either Spring/Fall can be enrolled full-time for one year and apply for CPT and get internship experiences before they graduate. These students can apply for OPT upon graduation as well.

However, international students who start in the summer should take classes for Summer, Fall, and Spring and can only apply for the post-completion OPT. Since they do not meet the full academic year requirement for CPT, they cannot apply for CPT and cannot engage in internship opportunities. Now I hope you have a better understanding of how the “full academic year” requirement impacts your eligibility to apply for CPT/ OPT.

There’s another thing you should consider when you plan to start your program in the summer.

Full-time requirement for international students

Similar to the “full academic year” requirement, international students must meet the “full course of study” requirement. This regulates how many credits international students take each semester. For example, undergraduate students are subject to take at least 12 credits and graduate students are required to take 9 credits in general.

Undergraduate study at a college or university, certified by a school official to consist of at least 12 semester or quarter hours of instruction per academic term in those institutions using standard semester, trimester, or quarter hour systems

8 CFR 214.2(F)(6)(I)(B)

According to 8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)(iii), this “full course of study” requirement doesn’t apply to taking classes during annual vacation (summer or winter breaks). This is why current international students can take as little as one credit in the summer/winter break as long as they plan to continue to be enrolled next semester.

(iii) Annual vacation. An F-1 student at an academic institution is considered to be in status during the annual (or summer) vacation if the student is eligible and intends to register for the next term. A student attending a school on a quarter or trimester calendar who takes only one vacation a year during any one of the quarters or trimesters instead of during the summer is considered to be in status during that vacation, if the student has completed the equivalent of an academic year prior to taking the vacation.

8 CFR 214.2(f)(5)(iii)

This exemption to take fewer classes during breaks doesn’t apply to new international students. In other words, new initial students must enroll full time even in summer if that’s their first semester. The bottom line is new international students must enroll full-time in the first semester regardless of the term- Spring, Summer, or Fall.

“Note that a new Initial student must enroll full-time for the student’s first term, even if it is a summer session.”

SEVP Transfers for F-1 Students FAQs

The problem is that not many classes that students should take to make progress toward the completion of the program might not be offered in the summer in most cases. Although the course offering can be different from college to college, it is good practice to keep in mind that usually limited courses are offered in summer which makes it difficult for new students to meet the “full course of study” requirement.

What if new students are required to take 1~2 prerequisite classes before they start the program? New international students can take online courses from their home countries.

Taking summer online courses and your Form I-20

It is possible that new students take online prerequisites before the semester begins. In this scenario, new international students’ SEVIS records should not be updated to summer because the ICE doesn’t allow Form I-20s to be issued to new international students who take 100% online courses. If you are not familiar with ICE updates, or if you haven’t, click the following blog post to learn more about the most recent update for international students.

Related blog post: 2022-2023 ICE update for international students

Therefore, your I-20 should indicate the term that you are going to take some in-person courses on campus, even if you start taking online classes in your home country.

Hope this blog post helps new international students who are considering starting their studies in the summer. Other than the above things to consider, your institution might not be able to provide you with orientation which is another requirement for new students. For this reason, personally, I would advise international students to start in either Fall or Spring.

Did you find this helpful? Check out other important F-1 regulations on the F-1 visa page. Don’t be ignorant, be savvy! It’s your education, your right to know.