You are considered a "change of educational level" student if you:
- Are already an F-1 or J-1 student at Portland State or Portland State's Intensive English Language Program (IELP);
- Are applying for admission to a new academic program at PSU; and
- Will end your study in your current program to begin the new program.
Moving from the IELP to a bachelor’s program, or a bachelor’s program to a master’s program are common examples of a change of educational level. Students who are adding a new program of study while they continue in their current program (for example, adding a second major or minor, or adding a dual master’s program), are typically not considered to be changing their educational level.
In order to change your educational level, you will need to be admitted to a new degree program at PSU. You will also need to submit documentation showing the source and amount of your financial support during your program of study at PSU.
You may have a registration hold related to the new financial documents required for your change of educational level on your student record, if you did not submit those documents during your application to PSU.
The hold will typically start about one month before classes in your term of admission to the new program, when the financial documents are submitted. If you are working on collecting and submitting those documents but are experiencing a delay and the hold is impacting your ability to register, please contact ISSS for assistance. We can move the hold temporarily to help you register while you prepare the documents.
Change of Educational Level Requirements
You are eligible to change your educational level if you meet the following requirements:
- Your classes in your new degree program will begin in the next available academic session and less than 5 months after your last day of classes in your previous program.
- You complete your change of educational level request while you are in Active status in SEVIS.
For the first requirement, students who have graduated from PSU and are on post-completion OPT must begin classes within 5 months of the last day of their OPT period. This may be either the authorized end date on the EAD or the effective date of the change of educational level, if the change of educational level is requested before the student’s EAD expires.
For the second requirement, an F-1 student is in Active status while:
- they are enrolled and classes are in session, or
- during the authorized period of their post-completion OPT and during the 60-day grace period following the end of their program of study (or the end of their authorized post-completion OPT)
A J-1 student is in Active status while:
- they are enrolled and
- classes are in session and
- prior to their Program End Date, including periods of post-completion AT
Please note that while F-1 students may begin a new degree program at any level following completion of their first program, J-1 students are limited to moving to a higher education level (for example, bachelor’s to master’s, or master’s to doctorate).