Employment & Health Insurance
Health Insurance
F-1 students studying at CBU are required to have Health Insurance are required to have health insurance. The amount for coverage is automatically billed to your account at the beginning of each academic year. Click here for more information regarding coverage and participating doctors.
Employment
- On campus employment is permissible as soon as you are a full-time enrolled F-1 student. Acceptable employment includes: work on campus or on premises for an outside contractor or firm as long as that employer provides direct services to students (example: work for a food service company at CBU). Employment is limited to 20 hours per week while school is in session, but may be full-time during vacation periods.
- Off-Campus Employment Which Qualifies as On-Campus Employment: The INS has expanded the definition of on-campus employment to include jobs with employers that are educationally affiliated with CBU, provided that the job is associated with CBU's curriculum or related to contractually-funded research projects and provided that the job is an integral part of your academic program Employment is limited to 20 hours per week while school is in session, but may be full-time during vacation periods.
F-1 Off-Campus Employment Options
Curricular Practical Training:
Under most circumstances, to be eligible for this category, you must have been in F-1 student status for one academic year (nine months). A job offer is required to be eligible to apply for Curricular Practical Training. While there is no limit to the length of time you may be employed in Curricular Practical Training, any student who works for twelve months or more in full-time training automatically loses the right to any Optional Practical Training after completion of studies. (For more information on this F-1 employment authorization category, see the Curricular Practical Training brochure in the Office of Cross Cultural and Commuter Programs and Services.
Curricular Practical Training is defined as training that is required for all students in the degree program as part of the established curriculum (e.g. required internships as published in the school catalog), or training programs taken for academic credit which are an integral part of the established curriculum, but are not required (e.g. field study courses as published in the school catalog or practicum classes).
Optional Practical Training:
To be eligible for this category you must have been a full-time student for one academic year (nine months). A job offer is not required to be eligible to apply for Optional Practical Training. You are eligible for a total of twelve months of full-time Optional Practical Training during your entire stay in the U.S. as an F-1 student. The "option" is that you (1) may apply for periods of practical training before completion of studies, (2) save the total twelve-month period to be used after completion of studies, or (3) use a combination of both. Such employment may be full-time or part-time, and it may take place at any location in the U.S., but it must be directly related to your major field of study. Its purpose is to round off or complement your studies.
After completion of studies, you must apply for optional practical training within 60 days. Any periods of Optional Practical Training used before completion of studies will be deducted from the total twelve-month period available. For example, if you worked full-time for two months during a summer vacation, you would only have ten months of practical training available after graduation. (For more information, see the Optional Practical Training handout available in the Office of Cross Cultural and Commuter Programs and Services.
Employment Due to Severe Economic Hardship:
To be eligible for this category you must have been in F-1 student status for one academic year (nine months). A job offer is not required to be eligible to apply for this category of work authorization. If other F-1 employment authorization opportunities listed here are not available or are otherwise insufficient, you may apply to the INS for off-campus employment authorization based upon "severe economic hardship caused by unforeseen circumstances beyond the student's control." You must have experienced a significant change in funding available to you in order to apply. You may only work 20 hours per week while school is in session; full time during breaks and your annual vacation.
