The U.S. Department of Homeland Security added eight fields of study to the latest revision of its STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Designated Degree Program List on July 12. Among the new fields are landscape architecture; institutional research; mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineering technology/technician; composite materials technology/technician; linguistics and computer science; developmental and adolescent psychology; geospatial intelligence; and demography and population studies. Full descriptions of these fields can be found in the Federal Register notice.
International students who earn degrees in fields on the list qualify for the STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which allows F-1 students to work in the United States for 3 years instead of the 1 year allowed under the standard OPT program. The STEM OPT list was last expanded in January 2022, when 22 fields were added. Notably, the DHS STEM OPT Designated Degree Program List is an exclusive list: CIP codes that are not on this list are not eligible for STEM OPT.
There is an annual deadline of August 1 for interested parties to nominate additional CIP codes for the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List. The next annual deadline is August 1, 2023.