US proposal would put a $100,000 price on graduate work program

# US proposal would put a $100,000 price on graduate work program

A US federal proposal would require academic institutions to pay as much as $100,000 when an international graduate enters Optional Practical Training, potentially reshaping a major route from American universities into science and technology jobs. The plan has been proposed but is not yet final.

Optional Practical Training, commonly called OPT, allows eligible international students to work in the United States after completing a degree. The program can last up to three years for graduates in qualifying science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. About 420,000 people, roughly one-third of international students, participated during the 2025–26 academic year, according to figures reported by Nature.

Under the proposal, the charge would total $70,000 for the initial year of OPT. A graduate using the additional two-year STEM extension would incur another $30,000. Although the institutions would formally be required to pay, the size of the charge would influence whether universities support graduates' participation and could alter students' decisions about where to study.

The Department of Homeland Security says the measure is intended to reduce fraud, reinforce immigration-program integrity and protect US workers. Its own projection says OPT enrollment could decline by as much as 44 percent if the rule is finalized. DHS estimates that universities would collectively pay between $8.4 billion and $16.5 billion each year.

Researchers examining the proposal foresee an even sharper effect in some degree categories. Michael Clemens, an economist at the Johns Hopkins School of Government and Policy, estimated that participation after bachelor's degrees would fall by half and that participation by master's graduates would be almost eliminated. His analysis also notes the importance of OPT to international STEM PhD graduates, about 70 percent of whom used it in 2022.

Clemens projects that reduced international enrollment could cost US colleges and universities between $2.5 billion and $4.2 billion annually in tuition and other revenue. In separate work commissioned by the US National Academies of Sciences, he and colleagues estimated that the administration's combined immigration proposals could reduce the US STEM workforce by 6 to 11 percent over a decade. Those figures are projections rather than observed outcomes.

The proposal follows other restrictions affecting researchers and skilled workers. Nature reported that applications for a high-skilled worker visa fell sharply after a separate $100,000 levy announced in 2025. Policy specialists quoted by the publication argue that another large charge could push prospective students toward other countries and weaken a talent pipeline used by universities and technology companies.

DHS maintains that stronger oversight is needed to address abuse, while critics focus on the scale of the cost and the likely response from students and institutions. Because the rule remains a proposal, its final terms, implementation date and actual effects could change through the rulemaking process.