Trump Administration Proposes $70,000 Fee for International Students Working in the US
Proposal to impose hefty fees on international students participating in Optional Practical Training programs.
Translated by Qiyas from الجريدة — Original source
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed on Wednesday imposing a fee of $70,000 on international students seeking to work in the United States, in the latest effort by the Trump administration to deter foreign students from enrolling in American universities.
A proposed rule would require universities to pay the fee for each student participating in the Optional Practical Training program, which allows students to work in jobs related to their field of study during their studies or after graduation. Students are generally eligible to work for one year after graduation, although some science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors are eligible for an additional two years.
This change deals a blow to American colleges and universities that rely heavily on enrolling international students as a source of tuition revenue, as well as to technology companies and other industries that employ many international students in technical roles.
Fanta Aw, chief executive of NAFSA, an organization representing the international education sector, said that the Optional Practical Training program enables international students to gain practical experience and help address labor shortages in high-demand fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
For its part, the Department of Homeland Security described the fee in a statement as aimed at combating fraud and misuse of the visa program, which it characterized as a “channel for providing cheap foreign labor.”
