Original Date Announced

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a program of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), issued a broadcast message (styled as a reminder) to all Designated School Officials (DSO) regarding their responsibilities when authorizing Curricular Practical Training (CPT) opportunities for students. The broadcast also warns of SEVP's increased program oversight concerning CPT authorization. The broadcast message states that CPT must be an integral part of an established curriculum to be authorized, and improper authorization of CPT may subject both the institution and individual DSO to administrative or legal consequences, including withdrawal of a school’s SEVP certification.

Trump 2.0 [ID #2385]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.8.24 ICE - Broadcast Message 2608-02 - Guidance for Designated School Officials regarding Curricular

ICE issued a second broadcast message providing further guidance regarding how SEVP defines authorized usage of CPT, emphasizing the CPT must be an integral part of the curriculum and the practical training must be required for all students participating in that curriculum, regardless of citizenship. SEVP further notes that all CPT must be conducted by sponsoring employers that have established cooperative agreements with the school.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.10.05 Complaint - AAU v. DHS

The Association of American Universities and other higher education associations filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new interpretation of Curricular Practical Training (CPT) requirements announced in the two Broadcast Messages. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges that the agency action violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Plaintiffs describe the policy change as eliminating the possibility of CPT authorization for elective training opportunities (e.g., internships) taken for credit toward a student's degree even where the opportunity is not a requirement for every student in the degree program.

Plaintiffs allege that the Messages are arbitrary and capricious "because they reverse decades of settled agency interpretation without acknowledging the change, without offering any reasoned explanation for it, and without considering the profound reliance interests of the institutions and students who built their degree programs and educational plans around the government’s longstanding interpretation of the CPT regulation." The complaint also argues that the Messages violate the APA in so far as they are unlawfully retroactive, contrary to law, and procedurally invalid. The associations of higher education seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. Association of American Universities v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 1:26-cv-14520, (D. Mass.).

**Link to case here. Our litigation entries generally report only the initial complaint and any major substantive filings or decisions. For additional information, CourtListener provides access to PACER and all available pleadings. Other sites that track litigation in more detail or organize cases by topic include Civil Rights Clearinghouse, Justice Action Center, National Immigration Litigation Alliance, and Just Security**