UC Berkeley suspends international student work authorizations after second ICE threat
UC Berkeley indefinitely suspends international student work authorizations
UC Berkeley's Berkeley International Office has indefinitely paused applications for Course Credit Curricular Practical Training (CPT), a work authorization that lets F-1 visa holders gain practical experience for academic credit. The move follows a second ICE memo warning universities to monitor CPT compliance or risk losing certification to enroll international students. BIO says it will continue processing degree-requirement CPT and hopes to resume Course Credit CPT after consulting legal counsel.
We regret taking this action but we believe that it is in the best interest of students who hold F-1 status and that of the university.
- biotechbio
Is this headline misleading? From reading the article, Berkeley is pausing authorizations for Course Credit CPT, which enables international students on visas to work in exchange for credits to complete their degree programs. It doesn’t outright ban work experience if it is an “integral part of an established curriculum”.
The headline reads like Berkeley is suspending authorization of international student workers in general, but this actually seems like a relatively narrow restriction?
- schaefer
As someone that went to community college...
I'm pretty sure that the kids getting admitted to Berkeley actually are the best and the brightest. we should absolutely be welcoming them.
what are we even doing here?
- southbound
When I did my CPT more than a decade ago in an age before the current admissions policies, I had to ensure that the place I was going to work at was a good fit for what I was studying, and there needed to be a written explanation of why it would directly benefit my studies. And it was no joke, I couldn't do an internship for a role not directly in my field of study.
Either Berkeley isn't doing things right, or this is a shakedown. International students are the biggest money-spinners for universities (to the detriment of everything else at this point, from what I hear), and ICE is going for the jugular.
- raincom
So, this is not about OPT, but CPT. Many from various schools have abused CPT; so, they want to put to close that loophole. Some real ones get affected by this because of others' actions.
- 737min
Some comtext 36% of Berkeley students now from PRC (China), another 11% India. Big growth in last 15 years:
https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files...