CS Department Policy for International MS/PhD Students Applying for CPT (Curricular Practical Training) in Fall & Spring
For traditional MS/PhD students only. Click here for summer information.
(PMP student CPT info: click here.)
Internships during the Fall or Spring terms will not be approved under the following circumstances:
- CPT applications (either part-time or full-time) for the purposes of internships (via signing up for CS702, or CS990 for dissertators) will not be approved for students who have Teaching Assistantships in the same semester as the internship.
- Extensions on academic deadlines (e.g. the PhD qualifying process or the PhD preliminary examination deadlines) will not be granted for purposes of doing CPT.
- Endorsing an extension to an international MS student’s I-20 will not be granted purely for the purposes of doing an internship.
Requirements to request an internship/CPT for Fall and Spring semesters:
- Request must include an approved offer and employment letter from the company.
- Student must submit a statement on how this Internship/CPT fits into their plans to fulfill academic/course requirements leading up to the next academic deadline (e.g. qual deadline, prelim deadline, graduation), without requiring extensions.
- Request must include a CS or Affiliate Faculty Advisor’s written statement that they approve and will oversee this internship.
- Students must also complete the CS CPT Form.
- Special Note: Internships/CPT are incompatible with a Teaching Assistant role in the same semester. Depending when the request is made, your CPT may or may not be approved. See below for details. The request should acknowledge if this applies to the student.
| Approval timeframe | If student does not intend to seek TA | If student seeks to remain under consideration for TA but has not been given a TA offer yet | If student has already been offered (or has accepted) a TA position |
| If the Internship/CPT is approved by July 15 for Fall and November 14 for Spring |
Student should state in their request that they are not seeking a TAship and indicate if alternative funding sources (e.g. RA) will be used during the internship period. |
Student may remain under consideration for TA opportunities, but they need to state in their CPT request that, upon the department’s approval, they waive their eligibility for TA positions and will be taken out of further consideration. | Student will be allowed to withdraw from their TA offer (or accepted position) if the department approves the CPT within this timeframe. |
| If the Internship/CPT is approved between
July 16-August 4 for Fall and November 15-November 29 for Spring |
Student must remove themselves from consideration for a TA position or withdraw the CPT application. | If a TA offer has already been accepted before the department’s approval for a CPT, the GAC chair’s approval will be contingent upon the department’s ability to release the student from their TA obligation. | |
| If the Internship/CPT is approved after
August 5 for Fall and December 2 for Spring |
Not applicable; TA decisions finalized by this date. | If TA obligation is accepted, CPT will not be approved. This includes new internships and extensions from summer internships. |
Students will receive a course enrollment email via enrollment@cs.wisc.edu.
- Predissertators register for CS 702 for 2 credits for full time internships (minimum 10 weeks/40 hours per week).
- Predissertators register for CS 702 for 1 credit for part time internship (minimum of 5 weeks/40 hours per week or equivalent).
- Dissertators register for the required dissertator enrollment of 3 credits of 990. They should not enroll in 702. Internships for dissertators are covered by enrolling in CS 990 dissertation research. International dissertators who are doing internships also need to sign up for CPT with ISS.