Trump Plans to Charge $100,000 Fee for International Student Work Visas
Miles Bennett
The Trump administration is considering a $100,000 fee for international students who want to work in the U.S. after graduation — a price tag that would effectively shut roughly 300,000 students out of their main employment pathway.
What exactly would students have to pay for?
The fee targets OPT — Optional Practical Training, a program that lets student-visa holders stay in the U.S. after graduation to gain work experience in their field.
This means → students wouldn't lose their degrees; they'd lose the ability to stay and use them.
As of last fall, about 300,000 international students were on OPT, roughly one-quarter of all foreign students in the country.
How heavy is a $100,000 price tag?
Most U.S. master's programs charge $30,000–$60,000 a year in tuition. A $100,000 OPT fee is the equivalent of two more years of school.
In plain terms = for the vast majority of student families, this isn't "expensive" — it's unaffordable, effectively eliminating the pathway.
A White House official said no policy change is imminent but did not deny the proposal is under discussion.
Is this a one-off, or part of a pattern?
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security scrapped a decades-old rule that let student-visa holders remain in the U.S. indefinitely while enrolled; the new rule caps stays at four years.
The administration also proposed an identical $100,000 fee on H-1B work visas. A federal judge struck that plan down as unlawful last month; the White House is appealing.
This reflects a clear policy direction: not targeting one visa category, but systematically tightening every channel for foreign talent entering the U.S.
Can this actually take effect?
The H-1B fee was already blocked in court. The OPT proposal would travel the same legal road and face similar challenges.
This means → the policy intent is unmistakable, but whether it sticks depends on the courts, not on the White House alone.
Even if one proposal is overturned, the other can resurface in a different form — the uncertainty itself is the pressure.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.