International students holding an F-1 Visa intending to participate in a Cooperative Education program are required to have Curricular Practical Training (CPT). The first step to CPT authorization is to view the VISA Office’s CPT presentation which covers the basics of how and when students can apply for CPT. To access the CPT presentation, visit the VISA Office website and scroll down to “Practical Training Resources” to access the CPT Presentation.
Requirements for Co-op Participation as an International Student
The co-op program is available to students who are in good standing with the university and pursuing a degree in engineering or computer science. Co-op course enrollment in the Student Information System is required during your co-op.
Accepting an Offer
To enroll in the Co-op Program, you must take the following step
1. Obtain an offer letter. The offer letter must:
- Be written on company letterhead.
- Be addressed to you, the student.
- Include a position title.
- Provide a job description in the offer letter or in a separate document.
- Specify the employment address (street, city, state, and zip code). If the co-op is remote, it must include the remote address and the company's address.
- Specify that the employment is full-time. If part-time, specify the number of hours of work per week (not a range)
- Specify the exact start and end dates (month, day, and year)
2. Once the offer letter contains all of the required information outlined in Step 1, request co-op approval from the Co-op Office by filling out this Google form. The form will be submitted to the Co-op Director and will take up to one week to process.
3. Attend a co-op orientation meeting. You can RSVP in Handshake events or schedule an appointment with My Journey (search for the cooperative education specialist).
- You will complete all required co-op forms during the orientation meeting. If you do not see a meeting scheduled in Handshake, please contact coopinfo@case.edu to schedule a meeting. For second-time co-op students, you don’t have to attend an orientation meeting but you must complete all required paperwork.
4. Register for the appropriate co-op course in SIS.
- You will learn more about which course to enroll in during the orientation meeting.
5. Submit CPT paperwork and all required documents, to the VISA Office via Terra Dotta.
- Visit the VISA website.
- Select "New & Currently Enrolled Students".
- Login with SSO.
- Go to the "Requests" tab of the account portal.
- Select "CPT Request" and fill everything out from there. Add Genine Apidone, gma19@case.edu as the approver for the form.