Overview
- The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule Wednesday, October 7, 2026, that would require SEVP‑certified schools to pay $70,000 for each student’s initial Optional Practical Training authorization and $30,000 for each renewal.
- Under the plan, a school must pay the fee before its designated school official can recommend a student for OPT and USCIS would not grant work authorization if the school has not paid.
- Universities, employers and international‑education advocates say the fee would sharply raise the cost of post‑study work, threaten tuition revenue, and reduce enrollment and hiring of international STEM graduates.
- The proposal is in formal rulemaking with a public comment window reported as 60 days and DHS saying it would delay implementation after finalization, and legal challenges from colleges and business groups are widely expected.
- OPT routinely lets hundreds of thousands of F‑1 students gain U.S. work experience and act as a bridge to H‑1B jobs, and DHS itself conceded its economic analysis cannot reliably predict how much participation would fall under the new fees.