Trump Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Grads to Work in US

The Trump administration is weighing a plan to charge international students $100,000 to stay in the country and work after graduating, according to a person familiar with the matter, in a potentially devastating move for student visa holders already squeezed by recent immigration crackdowns. The fee would attach to Optional Practical Training, the pipeline US tech and finance firms lean on for entry-level STEM talent.

A White House official said there was no imminent policy change, but didn’t deny the proposal was under consideration.

What OPT is and why it matters

The extension, called Optional Practical Training, is a core aspect of the international student pipeline in the US that allows student visa holders to extend their stays in order to gain relevant work experience.

The proposal would apply to Optional Practical Training (OPT), the program that allows international graduates to remain in the U.S. for one to three years after earning a degree. Roughly 419,000 international graduates were working under OPT in 2024. A six-figure fee would effectively price most students out of that pathway.

The H-1B parallel

The fee also echoes the administration’s efforts to pin the same $100,000 price tag on H-1B visas, which have historically funneled global talent, particularly in STEM fields, to US companies.

That measure, which drew strong criticism from the technology industry, was halted after a federal appeals court in Boston blocked the government from enforcing it last week. Any OPT version would likely face the same legal path.

Do you want to see how to make more plays? Do you want to find gains yourself?

Unusual Whales helps you find market opportunities through our market tide, historical options flow, GEX, and much, much more.

Create a free account here to start conquering the market with Unusual Whales.

Why the Street should care

U.S. tech and engineering sectors depend on this talent pipeline, and the proposal could exacerbate skilled labor shortages, impacting innovation. Large-cap tech, which already fought the H-1B version, would be the loudest opponent again.

Many colleges depend on foreign students for tuition income, and companies in the technology and finance sectors have long viewed graduates of U.S. universities as an important source of skilled talent. Education services and student-lending names sit directly in the blast radius.

Broader immigration context

Earlier this month the Department of Homeland Security announced it was scrapping a decades-old policy that allowed student visa holders to stay in the US for as long as their studies lasted, limiting their time to four years unless granted a special extension.

Taken together, the tightening keeps immigration policy on traders’ radar alongside other policy headlines shaping labor supply.

Options market and stocks to watch

Watch for reactions across names most exposed to the foreign-STEM hiring pipeline and higher-ed economics:

MSFT: Watch for commentary from Microsoft, a heavy H-1B and OPT sponsor, if the proposal advances.

GOOGL: Alphabet is another top OPT-to-H-1B converter and would be a lead voice in any legal pushback.

META: Watch for headline sensitivity given Meta’s reliance on foreign STEM hiring.

AMZN: Amazon is consistently among the largest sponsors of foreign graduates and would feel cost pressure fast.

LRN: Watch education-linked names as international tuition economics shift if OPT loses appeal.

Want more market intelligence? Create your free Unusual Whales account for options flow, market tide, GEX, and the full toolkit.