EDITORS' CORNER
The Trump administration may slap a $100,000 fee on international students if they seek to work in the U.S. after they graduate, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal.
The fee would be attached to the Optional Practical Training, “which allows international university graduates to work for one to three years on their student visas,” the Journal reported.
“The move, in essence, accomplishes the goal originally set out by the administration’s $100,000 levy on H-1B visas for foreign professionals, which caused a panic in Silicon Valley last year,” the Journal reported. “The government was blocked from collecting the H-1B fee by an appeals court in Boston last week.”
Forbes reported that the proposal is being mulled by the Department of Homeland Security, with officials weighing “whether students, universities or employers would ultimately bear the cost.”
The news comes amid a big debate about “skilled worker visas” among Republican ranks, as The College Fix previously reported.
Some argue such workers are sorely needed, especially by American tech companies that rely on international staff, while others say the program takes jobs from U.S. citizens.
The Wall Street Journal also noted the fee “would particularly harm universities, which rely on recruiting international students as a reliable source of revenue.”
Typically, international students pay a much higher tuition rate.
According to the Institute of International Education, U.S. universities enrolled 1.2 million international students during the 2024-25 school year, a 5 percent increase from the previous year, accounting for 6 percent of the nation’s total higher education population.
A department spokeswoman told the Journal: “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.”
MORE: Immigration experts disagree on benefits, consequences of skilled worker visas
