Universities Sue DHS Over Guidance Limiting F-1 Student Internships to Degree-Required Training

Four national higher education associations have sued the Department of Homeland Security to stop new federal guidance that would limit Curricular Practical Training, the off-campus internship authorization used by more than 130,000 international students in 2024, to training that every student in a degree program must complete. The suit, filed Oct. 5 in federal court in Boston, argues that two August messages from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program abandoned a reading of the rule that had stood since 1991, leaving F-1 students who took elective, for-credit internships suddenly unsure whether that work was ever lawful.

The plaintiffs are the Association of American Universities, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, NAFSA: Association of International Educators and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts.

The timing makes the case urgent. Students arrange spring and summer placements now, and the dispute lands alongside a DHS proposal, published in the Federal Register on Oct. 8, to charge schools $70,000 for a student’s first Optional Practical Training authorization and $30,000 for each one after that. If both stand, the two main routes from a U.S. classroom to U.S. work experience narrow at once.

Two broadcasts, one word: “required”

The regulation itself, 8 C.F.R. 214.2(f)(10)(i), has not changed. It allows CPT that is an “integral part of an established curriculum,” authorized by a designated school official (DSO). According to the complaint, the government read that language for decades as creating two paths: training taken for academic credit, whether mandatory or elective, and non-credit training that the degree requires. A 2013 SEVP newsletter quoted in the complaint described CPT as “either required for completion or optional, but for academic credit.”

Broadcast Message 2608-01, issued Aug. 12, told DSOs that CPT may be authorized only “if its absence would make the attainment of a degree an impossibility,” and said SEVP had seen “a rise in CPT authorizations that do not meet regulatory requirements.” A follow-up Q&A on Aug. 24, Broadcast Message 2608-02, went further, according to the complaint: all students in the curriculum “must participate in and complete practical training,” and CPT cannot “be offered as a part of an elective course.” Both messages warned that noncompliance could cost a school its certification to enroll foreign students.

Under that reading, a law student interning for a judge or an art history major in a museum program may no longer qualify, Higher Ed Dive reported, citing examples from the lawsuit. The complaint says 17 member schools, among them Columbia, Michigan State and Tufts, have already narrowed which CPT placements they will approve. An ICE spokesperson told Higher Ed Dive the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Work authorization type	F-1/M-1 students authorized, 2024
Curricular Practical Training (CPT)	130,586
Optional Practical Training (pre- and post-completion)	194,554
STEM OPT extension	95,384
Active F-1/M-1 student records	1,582,808

Source: ICE, 2024 SEVIS by the Numbers report, calendar year 2024. Counts overlap; the report puts unique students with any practical training authorization at 381,140.

By our calculation from the same report, CPT authorizations equaled a little over 8 percent of active student records in 2024.

Guidance or a new rule? The question the court will decide

The complaint brings four Administrative Procedure Act claims: the broadcasts reverse settled policy without explanation, apply retroactively, conflict with the regulation, and amount to a new rule issued without notice and comment. The groups ask the court to vacate them and order DHS to tell every certified school they have no effect.

The government’s likely defense deserves weight. The “integral part of an established curriculum” language is in the regulation, an agency reminding schools of an existing requirement does not ordinarily need a rulemaking, and broadcast messages can be cast as informal guidance rather than reviewable final agency action. The plaintiffs’ answer is the certification threat: a message warning schools they could lose the ability to enroll foreign students, they argue, binds in practice whatever it calls itself.

Retroactivity is the sharpest edge for students. The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that DHS has begun questioning students’ past CPT when they apply for other benefits. Unauthorized employment is a status violation for an F-1 student, and a prior internship recast as unauthorized could surface years later in an H-1B change of status or a green card case.

Pre-completion OPT is a weak substitute: it is capped at 20 hours a week during the school term, and the time used is deducted from the 12 months of OPT available after graduation (at half the rate for part-time work).

What to watch

The motion for preliminary relief: the groups filed it Oct. 6, asking the court to pause the broadcasts and block their enforcement while the case proceeds; a ruling before spring placements begin would decide how most schools handle the coming term.
DHS’s first filing: whether the government defends the broadcasts as a restatement of the rule or argues they are not reviewable at all.
The OPT fee proposal: comments on the $70,000 fee rule are open, and schools are likely to link the two issues.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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