Dive Brief:
-
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule Wednesday that would require colleges to pay up to $100,000 in fees for each international student seeking to participate in a popular program that allows them to work in the U.S. for up to three years after graduation.
-
Through the Optional Practical Training program, international students can receive a one-year work authorization for employment related to their studies. Students in STEM fields can receive a two-year extension.
- Under the proposal, colleges would have to pay an initial $70,000 fee for all international students to receive work authorization through OPT. Colleges would also be on the hook for additional $30,000 for OPT extensions.
Dive Insight:
An international student seeking OPT must first receive a recommendation from an official at their higher education institution. But the proposal would require colleges to pay the new fees before they can make those recommendations.
These recommendations have never come with fees before, although a separate form required in the process has a $470 to $520 filing fee, according to law firm Fragomen.
A $100,000 price tag for the OPT program could be too steep for many institutions to afford, and therefore significantly hamper their ability to recruit international students. In a fall 2025 survey of 828 higher education institutions, 92% of college leaders said international students would likely choose other countries for their studies without OPT.
DHS acknowledged that the fee would create new costs for higher education institutions and could impact their international student enrollment. It said colleges could “mitigate their budgetary impact by passing on the financial obligation of this proposed fee” to international students specifically or all their students, or to employers.
Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, slammed the proposal in a statement Wednesday.
“Imposing this new fee structure on Optional Practical Training is the latest in a series of developments that creates deep uncertainty for international students,” Aw said. “Driving away the talents, perspectives, and aspirations of international students will only hurt American innovation, economic growth, workforce development, and global leadership.”
OPT participation has surged in recent years. About 294,000 international students participated in OPT in the 2024-25 academic year, more than double the roughly 120,000 in the program a decade prior, according to data from the Institute of International Education.
That trend has corresponded with rising international enrollment. In the 2024-25 academic year, there were nearly 1.2 million international students in the U.S., a 20.8% jump from a decade prior.
OPT participation more than doubles as overall international student numbers grow
DHS said the change is needed to curb fraud and abuse within the OPT program. In its proposal, the agency pointed to several incidents in recent years, including the arrest of 15 international students in 2020 during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into OPT fraud.
DHS argued the new fee for OPT would force colleges to be more selective about which international students they would recommend for the program. “The financial costs would deter schools from recommending students with questionable qualifications for OPT, leading to higher program integrity,” DHS said in its proposal.
It also threatened to shut down the program if it couldn’t implement the new fee.
“DHS notes that without the fees proposed in this rule, it cannot operate OPT consistent with its focus on preventing fraud and may shut down the program entirely,” it said in the proposal.
Higher education institutions could seek a refund for their payments if an international student doesn’t receive work authorization through the program. Those would be reviewed on a “case-by-case basis” and final determinations would not be appealable.
The agency also said the new rule is needed to “protect American workers.” DHS suggested the OPT program has been used to “circumvent the H-1B visa program,” which allows U.S. employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers for specialized jobs. The H-1B program is subject to strict annual visa caps, though the higher education sector is exempt from them.
The Trump administration has also made targeting the H-1B visa program a priority. It proposed a $100,000 fee last year for each H-1B petition that was struck down in court in June. Only a couple months later, the Trump administration proposed a separate $103,265 fee for each H-1B petition for organizations subject to the annual hiring cap.
The OPT proposal will be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, kicking off a 30-day public comment period. DHS will have to review each comment before it can issue its final rule. The agency says it plans for the new fee to take effect 60 days after the final rule is published.
