The U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed on Oct. 7 that colleges pay $70,000 for each international student they recommend for post-study work authorization, and $30,000 for each later period.
The fee would apply to Optional Practical Training, known as OPT, which lets F-1 students work in jobs related to their field after graduation. The proposal says 194,554 F-1 students with OPT work permits reported working in 2024, up from 160,627 in 2023. The Institute of International Education counted about 294,000 international students taking part in OPT in 2024-25, Higher Ed Dive reported.
Under the notice, published Oct. 8 in the Federal Register (docket ICEB-2026-0100), the school would pay before a designated school official can enter an OPT recommendation. DHS said schools could pass the cost to the student, to all students or to employers. The $30,000 fee would apply to any later OPT period, including a STEM extension. Schools could ask for a refund of the initial fee if the student is never issued a work permit, case by case, and the decision could not be appealed.
For Canadians, the numbers are not small. The Institute of International Education’s Open Doors fact sheet shows 29,903 Canadian students in the United States in 2024-25, making Canada the fourth-largest source of international students. The fact sheet does not say how many of them use OPT, and the parts of the notice reviewed by Canada News Media did not mention Canada or Canadian citizens.
DHS said the fee is meant to curb fraud and abuse. “The financial costs would deter schools from recommending students with questionable qualifications,” the department said in the proposal, as quoted by Higher Ed Dive. DHS cited a 2020 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation that led to the arrest of 15 international students. It also said the fee would keep OPT from being used to get around the H-1B visa program and would protect American workers, and that it “may shut down the program entirely” without the fees.
Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said the proposal “creates deep uncertainty for international students” and that driving them away “will only hurt American innovation.” Sarah Spreitzer of the American Council on Education said the plan will not help enrollment, Fortune reported.
Doug Rand, a former Biden-era U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adviser, predicted courts would strike down the fee, as they did the $100,000 H-1B fee in June, Fortune reported. A fall 2025 Institute of International Education survey of 828 institutions found that 92 per cent of college leaders said international students would likely choose other countries without OPT.
Public comments on the proposal are due Nov. 9, 2026, with a separate deadline of Dec. 7 for comments on its paperwork requirements. DHS must review the comments before issuing a final rule, and the fee would take effect 60 days after that rule is published. Groups that oppose it could challenge it in court.
The proposal comes a day before Global Affairs Canada reported a 60 per cent rise in arrests and detentions of Canadians in the United States, which Canada News Media reported on Oct. 9.
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Via Higher Ed Dive and Fortune, with figures from the Federal Register notice and the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors data.
