Can I keep working while I study?
You're right to ask this early — for most people, walking away from an income for years is the single biggest thing standing between them and this path, and it's a real question worth answering carefully, because the answer is different depending on who's asking.
Can I keep working while I study?
You're right to ask this early — for most people, walking away from an income for years is the single biggest thing standing between them and this path, and it's a real question worth answering carefully, because the answer is different depending on who's asking.
If you're a domestic (U.S.) student: yes, working while you study is common and the school's own structure is built to allow it.
| Option | How it supports working |
|---|---|
| Pay-per-term tuition | You enroll and pay per term, at your own pace — no fixed multi-year commitment |
| Part-time enrollment | No full-time requirement; you can spread the same degree over more terms |
| Trimester system, weekday daytime classes | Predictable scheduling you can plan a job around |
| NDS (non-degree-seeking) | Try one course per term first, up to 3 terms, before committing (source: school's own admissions page, checked 08/2026) |
If you're an F-1 international student, this changes materially, and it's worth knowing before you plan around a paycheck:
- F-1 status generally requires full-time enrollment to maintain status, which limits how much you can lean on part-time pacing.
- On-campus and certain off-campus work is tightly restricted — commonly capped around 20 hours/week while classes are in session (this figure is drawn from one other school's own catalog, not Five Branches' own page, so treat it as illustrative rather than a number to rely on for Five Branches specifically).
- After graduation, OPT can allow up to 12 months of related work, but the STEM-OPT extension typically does not apply to acupuncture/TCM degrees.
Because visa work rules are genuinely case-specific and change, I'd never want to state Five Branches' exact hours-limit as settled fact here — your school's DSO (international student office) and USCIS are the authoritative word on what you personally can do.
So — are you thinking about this as a U.S. student balancing a current job, or are you coming in on an F-1/student visa?
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