International students who graduate from U.S. universities are able to remain here and receive training through work experience for up to twelve months. This is known as Optional Practical Training (OPT). Students who graduate from a designated science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degree, who have jobs related to their field of study with employers who are enrolled in the government’s E-Verify program, can remain in the U.S. for an additional twenty-four months on an OPT STEM extension.
On July 22, 2024 the Department of Homeland Security announced an expanded list of STEM designated-degree programs that qualify eligible graduates for this extension. The list now includes Landscape Architecture, Institutional Research, Linguistics and Computer Science, Composite Materials Technology/Technician, Developmental and Adolescent Psychology, Geospatial Intelligence, Demography and Population Studies, and Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering Technology/Technician.
A full list of STEM degrees is available here, and will be of interest to students, employers, and employees with eligible degrees who are currently in their first 12 months of OPT.
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