How To Apply for CPT
Step 1: Review CPT Rules
Review the ISSS Curricular Practical Training webpage. Pay attention to “cautions” and updates.
Step 2: Confirm Internship Dates
Your internship must fit within the start and end dates allowed by ISSS for summer, fall and spring. Some flexibility is possible within the specific semester or summer, but ISSS has definite limits.
Review the CPT Course Enrollment and Start and End Dates section of the ISSS CPT website and the appropriate Registrar’s Academic Calendar to confirm the actual start/end dates listed below.
Summer internship:
The earliest possible start date is a Sunday in May on the day after the immediately preceding official spring graduation date in May (a Saturday).
The last possible end date is the Sunday before the first fall class day (a Monday), but only if you will continue your graduate studies in fall, and you deferred taking the internship course for your summer internship until fall.
If you are enrolled in the internship course in summer and graduating in summer, or if you are enrolled in the internship course in summer and continuing your graduate studies in fall, your internship must end no later than the official summer graduation date in mid-August (a Monday).
Fall internship:
The earliest possible start date is the Tuesday in August on the day after the immediately preceding official summer graduation date in August (a Monday).
The last possible end date is the last day of Winter Term (a date in January after the fall semester has ended), but only if you will continue your graduate studies in spring. Winter Term is a period between the fall and spring used by some departments to offer short courses or study abroad sessions, for example.
If you are graduating in fall, your internship must end no later than the official fall graduation date in December (a Saturday).
Spring internship:
The earliest possible start date is the Sunday in December on the day after the immediately preceding official fall graduation date in December (a Saturday).
The last possible end date is the last day of May Term (a date in June after the spring semester has ended), but only if you are not graduating and you will continue your graduate studies in the following summer or fall. May Term is a period between spring and summer used by some departments to offer short courses or study abroad sessions, for example.
If you are graduating in spring, your internship must end no later than the official spring graduation date in May (a Saturday).
Step 3: Upload Your Multipage ECE CPT Document
Upload one properly-labeled and appropriately-signed multipage ECE CPT document to the Box folder HERE. Proper Label: Full Name-Your EID-CPT for (Semester & Year).
NOTE: The ECE CPT form is in the process of being updated. A link to the form will be provided soon. In the meantime, send an email to Melanie Gulick, melanie.gulick@mail.utexas.edu, to request the current version of the ECE CPT form, or Page 1 of the multipage ECE CPT document outlined below.
The multipage ECE CPT document must include:
Page 1: ECE CPT Form, signed by:
Your supervising professor (PhD students, or master’s students with a Thesis or Report supervisor only); or
Your track advisor (master’s “courses only” option) except for ACSES students; or
For ACSES master’s students, any ECE ACSES professor except Prof. Jonathan W. Valvano. You could ask for a signature from an ACSES professor with whom you have taken a class.
The professor who signs your ECE CPT form will be entered as the instructor of your internship course(s) on the Registrar’s course roster.
Page 2: Approval Email (if your professor cannot sign):
Send your filled ECE CPT form via email to the signer, and ask the professor to “Reply to All” and state their approval of your internship.
In the email, include your name, EID, semester and year of internship, internship start and end dates, the company hiring you as an intern, a brief description of your job duties, and the hours per week you will work.
Save the email as a pdf or Word document (not an image or screenshot) without removing any information, and include the document as page 2 of your ECE CPT multipage document.
Last page(s): Company Offer Letter or a signed Employment Verification Form (EVF), preferred:
ISSS prefers that students obtain a signed Employment Verification Form (EVF)
An offer letter from the company must be signed and on company letterhead, and must contain a list of information that can be found on the ISSS Curricular Practical Training website under Step 2 in the “How To Apply for CPT” section. The letter must contain all the information.
Step 4: Apply for CPT via myIO
Once you have your completed Employment Verification Form (preferred) or employment letter, log into myIO > F-1 Practical Training > CPT Request. Fill out and submit the form.
Application windows:
Summer internship: Opens mid-March
Fall internship: Opens mid-July
Spring internship: Opens mid-October
Part-Time and Full-Time CPT
Part-time CPT: You work ≤ 20 hours/week as an intern and never > 20 hours per week
Full-time CPT: You work >20 hours/week as an intern at any point during your internship
If you plan to do two back-to-back internships (e.g., summer and fall), you must submit a separate CPT request for each summer internship or long-semester internship when the application window is open for that summer or semester. The dates of the internships must occur within the specific dates listed under Step 2 and on the ISSS CPT website.
Unlike undergraduates in the Cockell School of Engineering, graduate students do not participate in summer-through-fall co-op programs that are distinct from a singular summer internship. F-1 students must complete the ECE CPT steps to get authorized by ISSS to use CPT and work as an intern for each singular fall, spring, or summer internship offer from an off-campus company.
Step 5: Notify ECE
Send one email to Melanie Gulick: melanie.gulick@mail.utexas.edu.
After ISSS approves your internship and sends you a new I-20, forward the ISSS approval email and your Form I-20 to Melanie
Step 6: Register for ECE x97M, Graduate Research Internship, and at Least One Degree-Counting Course in Fall and Spring if Using CPT in Fall and Spring
Scroll down to review “Important Enrollment Information and Requirements.”
List the Graduate Research Internship course(s) on your DocuSign Masters Registration Form or Doctoral Registration Form.
ECE x97M (x equals 1, 2, or 3 credit hours). Choose the number of hours that best fits your class schedule to avoid being charged additional tuition unnecessarily.
If eligible, list ECE 398R, Report; or ECE 698A, the 3-hr first Thesis course; or ECE 698B, the last 3-hr Thesis course; or ECE x99W, Dissertation (x = 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 hours), on your DocuSign registration form. Review “Internship Course Enrollment Considerations and Information” regarding eligibility to use one of these courses as your internship course instead of ECE x97M.
Include the correct 5-digit unique number for the course(s) on your registration form. Find the unique numbers in the relevant Course Schedule below the course numbers and course titles.
To fulfill ECE CPT course requirements, ECE does not allow F-1 students to take the zero-credit EXP 000/080, Internships & Career Experiences, course offered by Career Success. If you take EXP 000/080, you still have to take an internship course that fulfills ECE CPT requirements.
Step 7: Complete Individual Instruction Course Approval Form (if needed)
Fill out the DocuSign Individual Instruction Course Approval Form if:
You already submitted your DocuSign Masters Registration Form or Doctoral Registration Form, but you need to get added to ECE x97M because you did not list the course(s) on the first form.
You are a master’s student in the ACSES track, and thus a professor other than Prof. Jonathan W. Valvano must sign your ECE CPT form and also sign the DocuSign Individual Instruction Course Approval Form as your internship course instructor.
To approve your courses, Prof. Valvano still signs your DocuSign registration form if you are an ASCES student pursuing a “courses only” master’s degree or if he is your PhD supervisor. However, he does not sign ECE CPT forms or serve as an ECE x97M course instructor due to his heavy workload as the ECE Undergraduate Advisor.