OPT program for F-1 students faces elimination under Trump’s USCIS pick – Investing Abroad News
Joseph Edlow, the Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) top job as the Director USCIS, has alarmed the international student community.
In a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Edlow said that if selected for the job he would prevent foreign students from working after graduating from U.S. universities. Edlow said he would end the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme that allows foreign graduates to work in America post competition of their studies.
Edlow is the nominee for the US immigration Service and aims to prevent foreign students from working after graduating from U.S. universities, despite President Trump’s support for green cards. During the election campaign in 2024, Trump had said that he would ensure foreign students get green cards after graduating from US universities. However, USCIS nominee Edlow said he would stop student Optional Practical Training (OPT), ignoring Trump.
International students can work for 12 months in their major subject of study before or after finishing their course requirements thanks to the optional practical training.
By working an extra 24 months (beyond OPT) in a science, technology, engineering, or math profession, STEM OPT enables students to obtain real-world experience.
Ending post-graduation OPT and STEM OPT would derail America’s strongest programs for attracting and keeping overseas talent, according to economists, business executives, and educators.
“I think the way in which OPT has been handled over the past four years, with the help of certain decisions coming out of the D.C. Circuit Court, has been a real problem in terms of misapplication of the law,” Edlow said in response. “What I want to see would be essentially a regulatory and sub-regulatory program that would allow us to remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school,” said Edlow when asked to describe changes he would make to Optional Practical Training if he were confirmed as USCIS director.
OPT program is a hugely popular post-study work option for internationals students. Over a half million international graduate students (502,291) pursued study in the United States in 2023/2024, an 8% increase and an all-time high.
Additionally, the number of international students who remained in the United States to gain practical work experience through Optional Practical Training (OPT) reached a record high of 242,782 students, an increase of 22% from the prior year.
The Open Doors 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange estimates that the total number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities reached an all-time high of more than 1.1 million (1,126,690) international students in 2023-2024, a 7% increase from the previous academic year.
OPT is an important opportunity for international students to gain work experience in their fields of study after completing their degree. In 2024-25, OPT continued to see record growth and gains by another 12%, particularly in the STEM fields.
Edlow’s statement has sent shockwaves across US universities, technology companies, and international students.The
Institute of International Education study reveals that 84% of U.S. institutions reported that if OPT were not available, international students would likely look to other destinations for their education abroad experiences.
