For decades, the American Dream has inspired millions of students and professionals worldwide, promising world-class education, rewarding careers, and a better quality of life. But now that dream is becoming increasingly difficult as the Trump administration is considering charging international students $100,000 for the right to work in the United States after graduating from an American university, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter. If implemented, the proposal could make studying in the U.S. much more expensive and less appealing for students from other countries.
If the law is passed, it would significantly support President Trump in carrying out his desire to limit almost all types of legal immigration. Universities will suffer heavily from the implementation, as they depend on the revenue they get from international students recruited. Furthermore, firms based in Wall Street and Silicon Valley will also be affected because they usually employ international graduates for technical positions.
What is optional practical training (OPT)?
The cost would be connected to the scheme referred to as optional practical training (OPT), which authorizes international university graduates to work for a period between one and three years on their student visas. In 2024, as many as 419,000 foreign nationals participated in the program, according to official data cited by The Wall Street Journal.
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Why is the US considering a $100,000 fee for international students?
The proposal would achieve a similar goal to the Trump administration’s earlier plan to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas for foreign professionals. That proposal sparked concern among technology companies and workers in Silicon Valley last year. However, last week, a federal appeals court in Boston blocked the government from collecting the H-1B fee.
Although the authorities originally planned for the new levy to cover all H-1B visa applicants, a strong protest from tech giants led the government to restrict it to foreign workers seeking to come to the US. More generally, expatriates coming to the U.S. on H-1B visas are often hired by IT and accounting companies, while the leading players in the tech and financial sectors prefer to recruit graduates from the best universities and subsequently change their visas to H-1B visas after several years of working for them. This implies that the new fee on OPT will be directed to these firms.
Will universities or employers bear the cost of the proposed fee?
“No policies should be considered final until formally announced. At DHS we are always having conversations about how to use all tools in our arsenal to protect the integrity of our legal immigration system,” A DHS spokeswoman said in a statement, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal.
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Trump officials are increasingly utilizing the $100,000 fee to prevent low-income foreigners from immigrating to the U.S. through various policies. In addition to using it for H-1B and student visas, State Department officials are considering imposing a $100,000 deposit requirement on green card applicants who are outside the US. The bond would only be refunded after the applicant moves to the U.S. and eventually becomes a US citizen.
According to a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter, the proposed fee is still being discussed within the Department of Homeland Security, and it remains unclear whether the White House will approve it. Officials have also not decided who would be responsible for paying the fee—whether it would fall on international students or on the universities and employers sponsoring them.
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