Employment authorization that must relate to a student’s major or course of study. To participate, students must receive approval from their designated school official and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. OPT may occur before or after the program end date, but participants may only work for 20 hours per week while school is in session.

OPT is not an integral part of the established curriculum. Optional practical training (OPT) does not fulfill requirements of an F-1 student's program of study and successful program completion is not contingent on participation in OPT. OPT may include the following:

• Pre-completion OPT.
• Post-completion OPT.
• 24‑month extension of post-completion OPT.
• H-1B Cap‑Gap.