WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is considering imposing a $100,000 fee on international students who wish to remain and work in the United States after graduating from American universities, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The proposal is still under discussion within the Department of Homeland Security and has not been approved by the White House. A fundamental question remains unresolved: whether the fee would be paid by the students themselves or by the companies that hire them. A White House official said there was no imminent policy change but did not deny the proposal was under consideration. No timeline for a decision was provided.
If implemented, the fee would apply under the optional practical training program, known as OPT, which allows foreign graduates of American universities to work on student visas for one to three years after completing their degrees. In 2024, approximately 419,000 foreign nationals worked in the United States under OPT, according to the Journal. The program is one of the primary pathways by which American technology and finance companies hire foreign graduates for technical roles without immediately requiring H-1B visa sponsorship.
The potential consequences split across two different sectors. American universities, particularly research institutions that rely disproportionately on international students as a stable revenue source, would face an immediate enrollment threat if the fee made staying in the US after graduation effectively prohibitive. NBC News reported that new international student enrollment in US institutions fell sharply in the latest academic year, the steepest nonpandemic decline in more than a decade, with graduate programs recording a drop of 24 percent. A $100,000 post-graduation fee would accelerate that pressure on institutions already absorbing enrollment losses.
Silicon Valley and Wall Street companies that hire foreign graduates at disproportionate rates for technology and quantitative roles would face a separate order of disruption. The OPT program allows those employers to bring on graduates immediately after graduation without navigating the H-1B lottery. A six-figure fee attached to that pathway, borne either by the student or by the hiring company, would alter the economics of that hiring channel materially. The Journal noted the proposal would particularly affect companies that disproportionately hire international graduates for tech positions.
Earlier in July, the Department of Homeland Security announced direct restrictions on the validity of visas for foreign journalists, students, and exchange program participants, a separate policy from the OPT fee under discussion but reflecting the same directional pressure the Trump administration has applied across immigration and foreign-policy channels since January.
What Thursday’s report does not resolve is whether the proposal survives the interagency process, what the White House’s position on it is, or who ultimately bears the financial cost if the fee is enacted. Those questions remain open, and neither DHS nor the White House had issued a statement confirming or denying the proposal by Thursday evening.
