US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving aboard the Marine One helicopter on his South Lawn helipad at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, October 6, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Experts sounded the alarm after finding that a new proposal from President Donald Trump's administration could devastate America's supply of science and technology workers.
The Department of Homeland Security released the proposal Wednesday. It would require colleges to pay $70,000 the first time they recommend an international student for Optional Practical Training and $30,000 for each later recommendation.
The program, known as OPT, lets international students work in jobs tied to their studies. Graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math can stay for up to three years, according to the proposal.
"This will decimate our STEM talent ecosystem," Sam Peak, a labor and mobility policy manager at the Economic Innovation Group, wrote on X shortly after the proposal surfaced.
"Regardless of whether this fee falls on schools, employers, or the students themselves, it will be the American people who bear the costs," Peak and his co-author, Jiaxin He, wrote in a Sept. 17 analysis for the group, weeks before DHS released the details.
"DHS believes that this fee is necessary to place the United States' interests first and protect American workers," the agency wrote in the proposal, warning it "may shut down the program entirely" without the fees.
"[N]o amount of regulatory box-checking can disguise the broader policy goal: if the administration cannot easily eliminate a lawful immigration program outright, make it prohibitively expensive to use. Up to $100,000 in OPT fees is elimination by another name," Houston immigration attorney Emily Neumann argued on X.
"[T]his is effectively a new $100k tax on international students, and will destroy the market. Which is killing the golden goose -- higher ed is one of the most successful exports the US produces," Catherine Rampell, economics editor at The Bulwark and an MS NOW anchor, posted on Bluesky.
"There is no indication that universities will pay this, demand will drop 99%. This is bad for innovation, and will cost taxpayers," Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, warned on X.
"DHS cannot confidently predict the extent of any reduction in participation due to these new requirements," the agency conceded in its economic analysis.
Even in its lowest scenario, the agency assumes schools would keep paying for every student eligible for the full three years of work.
"DHS's goofy assumption that a $100k fee on STEM OPT won't reduce STEM OPT participation is necessary for them to argue their plan won't be detrimental to the US economy," Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress, countered on X.
"The OPT rule is out, and it's a mess. DHS is aware that this rule will be challenged in court, but didn't even bother to do a defensible analysis of the costs," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on Bluesky.
Under the proposal, the public has 30 days to comment once the plan is formally published Thursday. If DHS finalizes it, the fees would take effect 60 days later and cover any student recommended for OPT after that, including students already enrolled.