This post was updated Oct. 13 at 9:54 p.m.
The Trump administration is looking to charge a $70,000 fee for international students who want to work in the United States – a move the UC said could make the program inaccessible.
Optional Practical Training allows international students to pursue temporary work experience directly related to their area of study. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed Wednesday that Student and Exchange Visitor Program-certified universities – including UCLA – pay a $70,000 fee for a student’s first OPT recommendation for the program and $30,000 for each subsequent OPT recommendation.
“The University of California is assessing the impact of this proposal and remains committed to supporting international students,” a UC Office of the President spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
To participate in OPT programs, a student must be recommended by an official at their college or university. The proposed fees would come in addition to the application fees, which are $520 for filing on paper and $470 for filing online.
Universities are certified to enroll international and exchange students through SEVP, a department under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that tracks international students’ records.
International students can apply for up to 12 months of full-time work with OPT either before or after they graduate from the institution they attend.
The proposed rule aims to make the job market more competitive for American citizens, according to the DHS press release. The unemployment rate for recent college graduates in the U.S. was 5.7% and the rate for the entire workforce was 4.1% in June, according to the New York Federal Reserve.
“American workers should not have to compete against a program that has been turned into a pipeline for cheap foreign labor,” a DHS spokesperson said in the press release.
DHS will hear public comment on the proposal until Nov. 9.
An ICE spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the fee increase would strengthen the OPT program while addressing fraud and abuse.
“DHS has encountered more schools, employers, and students engaged in schemes to exploit current regulations for fraudulent purposes,” the spokesperson said in the statement.
UCLA paused some international students’ Curricular Practical Training programs – a different type of temporary work authorization – after ICE, which operates under DHS, sent a memo to SEVP-certified universities in August.
ICE said in the memo that universities suspected of using CPT programs to create employment opportunities, instead of reasons required for academic studies, could lose their certifications to enroll exchange and international students. CPT has its own eligibility requirements and time limits separate from OPT.
[Related: UCLA pauses some international students’ work authorizations after ICE memo]
International students said the CPT pause has left them with fewer professional development opportunities.
[Related: International students face uncertainty after pause on federal work authorization]
International students have faced heightened scrutiny since President Donald Trump started his second term in 2025. The federal government revoked the visas of at least 19 UCLA students and alumni in April 2025. Their visas were restored later that month while ICE worked to create a “framework for status record termination.”
[Related: Trump administration announces restoration of international students’ visas]
DHS also established a fixed timeframe for F-1 visas – which most international students use to study in the U.S. – in July.
Previously, international students could remain in the country with an F-1 visa as long as they were enrolled in an SEVP-certified university. Now, a student may only remain in the U.S. for the duration of their specific program, which can last up to four years.
“Optional Practical Training was never meant to be a back door into the American workforce, a subsidy for cheap labor, or a prize for those who game the system,” a DHS spokesperson said in the press release. “DHS is upskilling OPT to require foreign students to justify their worth to employers.”
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