The Trump administration is weighing a $100,000 fee on international students who wish to work in the United States after completing their studies at American universities.
According to The Wall Street Journal report, the proposal would mark a significant step in US President Donald Trump's broader push to tighten legal immigration channels.
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The newspaper noted that such a fee would make American higher education considerably less appealing to foreign applicants, while dealing a blow to universities that depend heavily on international enrolment for revenue.
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Technology firms and financial institutions, which routinely recruit foreign graduates for specialised roles, would also be affected, the report said.
Linked To OPT Programme
The fee is understood to be tied to the Optional Practical Training (OPT) scheme, which currently permits eligible international graduates to remain and work in the US for up to three years after finishing their degrees, depending on their field of study.
Citing government figures, the report said close to 419,000 international graduates were employed under OPT in 2024, underlining the scale of the programme as a talent pipeline into American technology and finance sectors, often serving as a precursor to employer-sponsored H-1B visa applications.
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The administration has not formally unveiled the proposal.
Follows H-1B Legal Setback
The development comes days after a separate immigration measure ran into legal trouble.
A federal appeals court in Boston last week blocked enforcement of a $100,000 fee the administration had sought to impose on certain H-1B visa applicants, following objections from technology companies that warned of the impact on access to skilled foreign labour.
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The administration subsequently narrowed that plan to apply only to certain professionals entering the US directly on H-1B visas.
Should the newly reported OPT-linked fee be pursued, it would represent one of the most consequential changes yet to the rules governing legal immigration into the United States, potentially reshaping how international students weigh the value of a US degree.
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