The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified the following fields in STEM: Actuarial Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Engineering Technologies, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Military Technologies, Physical Sciences, Science Technologies and Medical Scientist. Click here to see if your Stanford degree qualifies as a STEM degree. (PDF file)

For students who have more than one major or degree, the STEM extension is only available to students who applied for their Post-Completion OPT based on their STEM degree.

In addition to the STEM degree requirement, students applying for an extension must have a job offer with a company who is registered in the E-Verify employment verification program. You should check with your employer to see if they participate in E-Verify. The employer must also agree to report to the I-Center within 48 hours after the student has been terminated from, or otherwise leaves employment with that employer prior to the end of the authorized period of OPT. This information should be emailed to internationalstudents@stanford.edu

NOTE: SEVIS has important reporting requirements for all students on STEM Post-Completion Practical Training. These requirements may be accessed here.

Periods of Unemployment

The limit on unemployment for students participating in STEM is raised to an aggregate of no more than 120 days, applied to the entire 29 month period of post-Completion OPT. Further details can be found here.

Useful Links

USCIS FAQ on OPT Extensions

Information and application instructions can be found on the following pages:

Return to Optional Practical Training (F-1) page ->