DHS Proposes $70,000 Fee on Schools for Each International Student’s OPT

Overview

• The Department of Homeland Security has proposed a rule that would require colleges to pay $70,000 for each new Optional Practical Training application and $30,000 for each renewal.
• OPT lets most international graduates work in jobs related to their major for one year and gives some STEM students up to two extra years of work authorization.
• DHS framed the fee as a tool to fight fraud and to stop what it called a pipeline for cheap foreign labor.
• Higher-education groups and employers say the levy would cut international enrollment, reduce tuition revenue that many schools rely on, and shrink a key pipeline for U.S. STEM talent.
• The rule now enters a 60-day public comment period and is likely to face legal and advocacy challenges that could delay or block implementation, following other recent contested student rules that drew court intervention.