​The date listed on a student’s Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” when they must enroll in an academic or vocational program of study. Students can enter the United States no more than 30 days before this date and need to contact their designated school official no later than this date to inform them they are in the country.

A school whose programs and activities are operated by publicly elected or appointed school officials and which is supported primarily by public funds.

The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Web-based service that helps some agencies determine the immigration status of benefit applicants.

Science, technology, engineering, and math programs, which are important to innovation and job creation in the United States.

If the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at primary inspection at a port of entry cannot verify a student’s information, or if they do not have all of the required documentation, a CBP officer may direct them to an interview area known as “secondary inspection.” Secondary inspection allows inspectors to conduct additional research in order to verify information without causing delays for other arriving passengers.

An internet-based application that facilitates timely electronic reporting and monitoring of international students and exchange visitors, as well as their dependents, in the United States. This application enables schools and program sponsors to transmit electronic information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of State throughout a student's or exchange visitor's program in the United States.

A nine-digit number assigned by the Social Security Administration to approved F and M students that are eligible to apply for employment in the United States.

A part of the National Security Investigations Division and acts as a bridge for government organizations that have an interest in information on nonimmigrants whose primary reason for coming to the United States is to be students.

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, SEVP manages schools, nonimmigrant students in the F and M visa classifications and their dependents.
 

The only schools that are officially authorized to enroll F and M students.

A designation the Secretary of Homeland Security may make about a foreign country "due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent safe return of the country's citizens; or where, in certain circumstances, the country is unable to handle the return of its citizens adequately." Benefits of TPS are temporary and vary, based on the designation. USCIS administers TPS.