A Student Status Extension is an option for degree-seeking students who are currently in their last semester of study (i.e., completing their last credit-bearing courses or internships at AUP) and who want to register an optional zero-credit internship in the following semester, or possibly two, before receiving their diploma.

Graduate students, please consider that a zero-credit thesis extension is NOT a credit-bearing registration. Bachelor's students, please note that a zero-credit internship does NOT replace a four-credit internship degree requirement, even if you have already earned 128 (or more) credits for graduation.

Students must submit a request to extend their student status before a set deadline, which is announced each semester:

Your last credit-bearing semester Fall 2022 Spring 2023 Summer 2023
Request deadline* December 9, 2022 May 12, 2023 July 14, 2023
Internship possible between** January 1, 2023 – August 25, 2023 June 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023 September 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024

* Exact deadlines vary each year. For exact dates, contact the internshipataup.edu (Internship Program Manager).

**Internships registered through AUP may not exceed the legal maximum duration of six months (where one month = 22 days) full time (35 hours per week).

 

Please note that specific conditions apply to Student Status Extension requests and zero-credit internships. 

 

HOW TO REQUEST A STUDENT STATUS EXTENSION:

Submit a request through the Student Status Extension Request Webform.

 

WHY DO A FINAL ZERO-CREDIT INTERNSHIP?

When looking for jobs – especially in France – candidates are often offered an internship that precedes employment. According to French law, when students officially graduate, they cease to be eligible for an internship. Therefore, it may be advantageous for students to postpone their official graduation by one or two semesters and register a final internship with AUP to improve their chances of finding employment just before or directly following graduation.

Extending student status with AUP ensures student status for one or two additional semesters and registering a final, zero-credit internship during this time allows the student to obtain the required convention de stage to intern in France. Please note that it may also be necessary to register a zero-credit internship for an internship taking place abroad (i.e., visa application, request of the hosting organization, legislation of the country where the internship is taking place, etc.).

Please consider visa requirements, future career development, and budget concerns before making your decision. Additionally, please also be aware that students are not eligible for US federal loans during a semester in which only a zero-credit internship is registered (due to the minimum 6-credit barrier). Postponing graduation in order to do a zero-credit internship once degree requirements have been completed does not entitle students to defer their loan repayment. Most loan students have a grace period of six months that begins when a student drops down to less-than-half-time status. Repayment begins at the end of the grace period.  

 

WHEN SHOULD I REQUEST A STUDENT STATUS EXTENSION? DO I NEED TO FIND AN INTERNSHIP FIRST?

An internship does not need to be secured in order for a student to submit a Student Status Extension request. In the event that the student does not find an internship, or if plans change, requests are reversible.

WHICH CONDITIONS APPLY?

GENERAL CONDITIONS:
  • Students must request a Student Status Extension before a set deadline for their request to be approved (see table above).
  • Extending student status will change the student's official graduation date to the semester in which their zero-credit internship is last registered. Please note that in certain cases, internship extensions apply.

NOTE: Participation in the Commencement Ceremony in May and being officially graduated are not the same thing. You can request a student status extension, and still participate in the Commencement Ceremony. Read more below.

  • French law stipulates that a "voluntary" or "nonobligatory" internship in France must be in line with the student’s course of studies.
  • All internship requests are subject to approval by the AUP Internship Office.
  • Students are not required to have already found an internship before they submit a request to extend student status.

EXCEPTION: Students who need to renew their titre de sejour in France will be asked to provide a convention de stage for their renewal application/extension dossier, therefore they need to find and register an internship before they need to send their renewal application (typically at least 2 months before their current immigration documents expire).

  • If students have not registered an internship by mid-semester of the semester following their last credit-bearing semester, or re-submitted a student status extension request to maintain the option to register an internship in the second semester after their final credit-bearing semester, their graduation date will revert to the end of the last credit-bearing semester.
  • Students who have been officially graduated are not allowed to register an internship at AUP and obtain the convention de stage required for any internship in France, due to legal restrictions.
  • Students are not eligible for federal loans during a semester in which only a zero-credit internship is registered (due to the minimum 6-credit barrier).

 

FEES FOR INTERNSHIPS DURING A STUDENT STATUS EXTENSION

  • In some cases, students will be required to renew their health insurance coverage (ensuring their full coverage for the entire duration of their internship), which may involve additional fees.

  • Students who rely on US federal loans to cover their living expenses will not be able to collect such living expenses in the context of a Student Status Extension due to the fact that they will not be registered for the minimum 6-credits (in a given semester) required to qualify to receive such loans and living expenses.

 

GRADUATION DATE WITH STUDENT STATUS EXTENSION

  • If a student registers an internship during their extended student status, and the duration of the internship itself extends into a second semester, a zero-credit internship extension will automatically be registered in the semester following the initial semester of registration.

NOTE: Students that have extended their status are eligible to register one or more zero-credit internships in the two semesters directly following their final credit-bearing semester. So the later this internship begins, the shorter it may be. More information below.

  • An extension will be implemented when the internship:
    1. finishes after May 31 for a Spring registration (i.e., zero-credit internship extension in the Summer semester);
    2. finishes after August 25 for a Summer registration (i.e., zero-credit internship extension in the Fall semester);
    3. finishes after December 31 for a Fall registration (i.e., zero-credit internship extension in the Spring semester).
  • Students are officially graduated at the end of the semester in which their final course is registered. This includes the registration of zero-credit internships and zero-credit internship extensions.
  • The graduation date of students who have completed all of their course requirements and whose last registration at AUP is a zero-credit internship, or a zero-credit internship extension is:
    1. The day of the Commencement Ceremony for the Spring semester;
    2. The last day of the last summer session or courses held at AUP for the Summer semester;
    3. January 1 of the following year for the Fall semester.
  • The student will receive his/her diploma according to the last semester of registration.
  • The Commencement Ceremony (held each May) is for all students who finish their degree requirements in either: the preceding Fall semester, that Spring semester, or the following Summer semester. For example, students who finish their degree requirements in Fall 2017, Spring 2018, and Summer 2018 are all eligible to participate in the May 2018 Commencement Ceremony. This means that students who complete their degree requirements in Spring 2018, for example, and who choose to take a Student Status Extension in Summer 2018, are still eligible to participate in the May 2018 Commencement Ceremony, even if a zero-credit internship extension will be implemented in the Fall.

 

INTERNSHIP DURATION DURING A STUDENT STATUS EXTENSION: TWO ZERO-CREDIT SEMESTER MAXIMUM

  • Following the semester where students have registered final credits to complete a degree, a maximum of two subsequent semesters comprising exclusively a zero-credit registration is possible under the following conditions:

    1. If students are registered in an internship (for credit or no credit) during their final credit-bearing semester, the internship spills into the following semester, so a zero-credit internship extension is registered in the following semester (i.e., the internship spans two semesters). Students can do a final zero-credit internship if they have extended their student status, but students still have a maximum of two semesters comprising exclusively a zero-credit registration – see example 2 below.

    2. If students register a non-credit internship during their extended student status, the registration of which can span a second semester depending on the duration of the internship which may run a maximum of six months.
Final Credit-Bearing Semester 1st Zero-Credit Semester 2nd Zero-Credit Semester
Final Courses Zero-credit internship Zero-credit extension
No Registration (and student submits Student Status Extension request a 2nd time by stipulated deadline) Zero-credit internship
Final Courses – including a credit-bearing internship (1/2/3/4/8 credits) Zero-credit internship extension (from credit-bearing internship in previous semester) Zero-credit internship
Zero-credit internship extension (from credit-bearing internship in previous semester) AND Zero-credit internship Zero-credit extension

 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the internshipataup.edu (Internship Program Manager).