DHS Proposes $70,000 OPT Fee, a Potential Blow to Indian Students

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has proposed imposing a $70,000 fee when a U.S. college or university first recommends an F-1 international student for Optional Practical Training, or OPT, a sweeping change that could sharply raise the cost of post-study work opportunities for Indian students and other foreign graduates.

The Department of Homeland Security proposal, scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on October 8, would also require a $30,000 fee for subsequent OPT recommendations, including a STEM OPT extension. The fees are not currently in effect and would take effect only if DHS completes the rulemaking process and issues a final rule.

Under the proposal, the legal obligation to pay would initially fall on schools certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, rather than directly on students or their employers. A school would have to make the payment before its designated school official could enter an OPT recommendation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, known as SEVIS. USCIS would not grant the student's employment authorization if the required fee had not been paid.

However, the financial impact could ultimately reach students and employers. DHS explicitly says schools could mitigate their costs by passing the financial obligation to F-1 students, their employers or the broader student population.

That distinction is particularly important for Indian students, who form the largest international student population in the United States. According to the Institute of International Education's Open Doors 2025 data, 363,019 students from India were in the United States during the 2024-25 academic year. Of those, 143,740 were participating in OPT — up 47.3% from the previous year.

The proposal could therefore have significant consequences for Indian graduates, including students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh who pursue master's and other advanced degrees in the United States and seek work experience after graduation. There is no authoritative data reviewed for this report that separately identifies Telugu students participating in OPT.

How the proposed fees would work

OPT allows eligible F-1 students to obtain temporary employment authorization for work directly related to their field of study. Students can generally receive up to 12 months of OPT at each education level, while qualifying science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates may seek an additional 24-month STEM OPT extension.

The proposed $70,000 charge would apply the first time a school recommends a particular F-1 student for any form of OPT, whether pre-completion or post-completion.

After that initial participation, a subsequent recommendation would trigger the $30,000 fee. That could include another period of pre- or post-completion OPT or a STEM OPT extension. Changing employers by itself would not trigger the fee.

For example, under DHS's proposed framework, a student who first receives post-completion OPT and later obtains a 24-month STEM OPT extension could generate $100,000 in combined fees — $70,000 for the initial recommendation and $30,000 for the subsequent STEM recommendation. DHS itself uses that $100,000 combined figure in its regulatory analysis when assessing the economics of up to three years of OPT and STEM OPT participation.

DHS says fees would combat fraud

DHS says the proposal is intended to deter fraud and abuse, strengthen oversight of the F-1 student system and protect American workers.

The department argues that requiring a substantial financial commitment would encourage universities to be more selective when deciding which students to recommend for OPT. DHS also contends that the program has been vulnerable to fraudulent employers, problematic worksites and schemes involving institutions and students.

The Federal Register proposal says the government wants schools to recommend students who are strong candidates for practical training and whose employment is genuinely connected to their academic programs.

DHS's regulatory analysis also makes clear that the government expects the fees could reduce participation. The department said it cannot confidently predict how large that reduction would be.

The scale of the proposal is substantial. DHS data cited in the proposed rule shows 194,554 students with OPT employment start dates in 2024 and another 95,384 with STEM OPT start dates that year.

Depending on participation levels, DHS estimates that the proposed fees could generate between $8.4 billion and $16.5 billion annually, with the regulatory analysis using a primary estimate of about $12.4 billion in annual fee collections under its modelled scenarios.

Current OPT students would not automatically face the new fee

The proposal contains an important transition provision.

If ultimately finalized as proposed, the rule would take effect 60 days after publication of a future final rule, not 60 days after publication of the October 8 proposal.

Students already participating in previously approved OPT, those whose OPT has been approved before the future effective date, and those who obtained their DSO recommendation before that date would not be subject to the new fee for that existing OPT period. A later OPT or STEM OPT request, however, could become subject to the fee.

That means F-1 students should not interpret the announcement as an immediate change to their current employment authorization.

Why Indian students have particular exposure

The proposal comes at a time when India has become the largest source of international students in the United States.

Open Doors reported 363,019 Indian students in the country in 2024-25, compared with 331,602 a year earlier. Nearly 40% of the Indian total — 143,740 students — were classified in OPT.

Across all nationalities, 294,253 international students were participating in OPT during 2024-25, a 21% increase from the previous academic year.

Those figures make the proposed rule especially consequential for Indian students considering the cost and potential employment benefits of a U.S. degree.

What happens next

The proposal is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, not a final regulation.

DHS is opening the rule to public comment, with the main comment period running through November 9, according to the department's announcement. The Federal Register advance text identifies the proceeding as DHS Docket No. ICEB-2026-0100. DHS must consider properly submitted comments and could modify the proposal before issuing any final rule.

If DHS ultimately adopts the proposal in its current form, the department proposes making the new fees effective 60 days after the final rule is published in the Federal Register.

Until that happens, the existing OPT system remains in place and the proposed $70,000 and $30,000 charges do not apply.