Maintaining legal student status and managing post-graduation employment in the United States shouldn't require guesswork or risk your immigration standing. USA Student Guide builds free, 100% in-browser calculators and verified compliance playbooks to help international and domestic college students protect their legal status and succeed in the US.
Our Core Mission
To provide college students and international graduates across the United States with transparent, accurate, and private digital tools for practical training compliance and graduation transitions.
Every year, over one million international students study in the United States on F-1 visas. After graduation, students entering Post-Completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) and the 24-Month STEM OPT Extension face strict Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rules—including the rigid 90-day and 150-day cumulative unemployment limits under 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(10).
Exceeding these limits by even a single day can result in automated SEVIS termination and the loss of legal status without a grace period. Yet, most university portals offer no interactive forecasting tools, and commercial services often demand student emails or personal records. We built USA Student Guide to solve this with zero-tracking, client-side tools that give students immediate answers.
What We Do
Accurate Compliance Calculators
We build interactive, client-side tools like our F-1 OPT & STEM Unemployment Days Calculator to help students track multi-employer dates, compute exact gaps, and forecast SEVIS breach deadlines.
Verified Practical Training Guides
From volunteering rules on initial OPT to E-Verify employer criteria on STEM extensions, our guides break down dense federal regulations into clear, actionable checklists.
Why Students Trust Our Platform
100% Client-Side Privacy
All calculations run exclusively inside your local web browser via client-side JavaScript. Your EAD dates, employer names, and personal job history never leave your device and are never sent to a remote server.
Grounded in Official Federal Regulations
Our tools and guides strictly follow published Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) policy directives, 8 CFR § 214.2 regulations, and official USCIS Form I-765 instructions.
Actionable for DSO Communication
We provide one-click DSO summary generators and calendar alert exports (.ics) so students can communicate accurately with their university International Student Services office.
Mack Morris, M.S.
Lead Contributor & Student Advisory Lead M.S. Student Affairs Counseling, Troy UniversityMack Morris is a higher education professional and student advisory contributor with over 5 years of experience in university student affairs, campus onboarding, and academic compliance. Holding an M.S. in Student Affairs Counseling from Troy University, he specializes in helping college students and international graduates manage complex campus procedures, SEVP reporting logistics, and practical training transitions.
At USA Student Guide, Mack oversees editorial accuracy, audits calculator rules against published SEVP directives, and ensures all tools offer practical, stress-free guidance for students in the United States.
Editorial & Fact-Checking Standards
Because practical training rules involve strict federal immigration consequences, USA Student Guide adheres to rigorous fact-checking and regulatory verification protocols before publishing any calculator or instructional guide:
1. Primary Federal Source Requirement
All date formulas and compliance thresholds cite primary sources from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (8 CFR § 214.2), published SEVP Policy Guidance, DHS Study in the States advisories, and official USCIS Form I-765 instructions.
2. Algorithmic Rigor & DST Neutrality
All calendar logic is computed in coordinated universal time (UTC) arithmetic to avoid daylight saving time 23-hour or 25-hour day errors. Leap years, weekend rules, and multi-job gap overlaps are unit-tested against real-world SEVIS scenarios.
3. Human Advisory Review
Content is reviewed by contributors with higher education student affairs and international student onboarding background. We regularly compare our calculator logic with published guidance from major university ISSS offices to ensure real-world consistency.
Corrections & Regulatory Monitoring Policy
Immigration policies, USCIS filing fees, and SEVIS reporting interfaces change periodically. We maintain a continuous monitoring protocol to ensure our platform stays current with DHS releases:
- SLA for Regulatory Updates: When USCIS or SEVP updates practical training directives or filing requirements, our editorial team audits and updates relevant calculators within 24 to 48 hours.
- Correction Submissions: We actively invite DSOs, immigration practitioners, and students to flag discrepancies. Submissions received via our Correction Form or directly at [email protected] are acknowledged within 24 hours.
- Transparent Changelogs: Any material change to a calculator calculation model or guide is updated with the date of modification clearly cited on page.
Commercial Independence & Free Access
USA Student Guide is an independent educational publisher. We are not owned or operated by any immigration law firm, visa consultancy, or university.
Our calculators and guides are 100% free for students and university advisors. We do not sell user data, collect student email addresses to unlock calculation results, or accept sponsored compensation to endorse specific legal practices or commercial services.