CPT for International JD Students

Information about Curricular Practical Training is available on the Office of International Student and Scholar Services website.

International JD students who wish to work in the U.S. during the summer after their first or second year of law studies should submit their CPT request in the OISS Portal. In addition, international students who will intern or extern off campus during the academic year as part of their Practicum course need to submit a CPT request for the semester of their Practicum enrollment.

Instructions on completing the CPT request:

International JD students should list Adi Altshuler, Assistant Dean and Dean of International Programs, as their academic advisor (recommender) when submitting this request. In addition, students must email a copy of their job offer letter and unofficial transcript to a-altshuler@law.northwestern.edu.

If a student is enrolled or intends to enroll in the following courses, they should put the name of the course in the “Relevance to Course Work" field (the final question on the CPT Questionnaire).

Courses:

  • Practicum: Civil Government (4 credits)
  • Practicum: Corporate Counsel (4 credits) (offered during summer)
  • Practicum: Criminal Law (4 credits)
  • Practicum: Judicial (4 credits) (offered during summer)
  • Practicum: Media Law and Government Transparency (4 credits)
  • Practicum: Mediation Practice (4 credits)
  • Practicum: Public Interest Law (4 credits)
  • Intensive Practicum (9 credits) + Intensive Practicum Seminar (3 credits)
    • Courses must be taken together, and no additional courses can be added for the semester.
  • Law Practice Field Studies (pdf) (1 credit)
    • Once the CPT request is approved by the Director of International Programs, and if the student did not indicate any of the courses above, they will be enrolled in this 1 credit course.

An OISS advisor processes the CPT authorization and prints a new I-20 with a new travel signature. This process takes one week from the time the OISS receives a complete CPT application, including the advisor’s recommendation.