The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Federal Register notice on July 22, 2024, announcing the addition of one Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code to the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List, Environmental/Natural Resource Economics. No CIP codes or fields of study have been removed from the list as part of this update.
The DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List is a complete list of fields of study that DHS considers to be science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields of study for purposes of the 24-month STEM optional practical training (OPT) extension.
The expansion follows the addition of 30 fields in separate updates last year to the OPT STEM eligibility list.
How does the Program Work?
F-1 student visa holders in the OPT program can work up to 12 months in a job related to their field of study following their graduation from a U.S. college or university. International graduates with STEM degrees are eligible for an additional two-year extension of their employment authorization.
What are CIP Codes?
Schools throughout the United States and its territories offer thousands of similar programs of study, but each have their own unique program names and descriptions. The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which collects, reports and analyzes data about these instructional programs, developed the CIP to:
- Classify instructional programs according to the objectives and content of the program of study.
- Collect data from schools on their instructional programs.
- Create reports on educational statistics and trends for use by the federal government, state governments, national associations, academic institutions and others.
CIP organizes instructional programs by series. Each program has a name and an individual code under the relevant series. Currently, NCES updates the CIP every 10 years.
Additional Information and Resources
For additional information about the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List and fields of study that qualify for the STEM OPT extension, please refer to:
- The Federal Register notice announcing the CIP code addition.
- The updated DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List.
- The Eligible CIP Codes for the STEM OPT Extension page on the Study in the States STEM OPT Hub.
- For additional information about CIP codes, please visit the Classification of Instructional Programs page on the SEVIS Help Hub