In the United States, Curricular Practical Training (CPT) provides temporary employment authorization for F-1 visa non-immigrant foreign students while enrolled in a college-level degree program.
[14] Students working with CPT authorization do not pay Social Security and Medicare taxes if they have been in the United States for less than five years.
[5] For employers, hiring a CPT worker amounts to a 15.3% discount per student compared to an American citizen or permanent resident.
[17][18] Government officials have criticized the program because neither USCIS nor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have a direct role in determining whether the CPT work authorization is an “integral part of a curriculum.
In 2020, Immigration and Customs Enforcement set up the University of Farmington and arrested 250 foreign students for knowingly enrolling in the papermill college, which lacked teachers or classes.