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Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has joined a multistate coalition to block a Trump administration proposal that would charge colleges up to $100,000 for each international student they recommend for Optional Practical Training (OPT).
OPT allows eligible F-1 foreign students to work in the U.S. in a field related to their studies for up to 12 months, or up to three years for STEM degrees. Under the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed rule, schools would have to pay $70,000 for a student’s initial OPT recommendation and $30,000 for any subsequent recommendation, including a STEM extension. Universities could recoup the money from students or employers, though the institutions themselves would be responsible for paying DHS before entering a recommendation into the federal tracking system.
Tong’s office called the rule an “unlawful $100,000 tax” that exceeds DHS’s statutory authority and would “drive away talent,” hurting Connecticut’s universities and economy. Tong framed the proposal as an example of President Trump “putting his anti-immigrant agenda ahead of common sense.”
What Tong does not emphasize is that more than 294,000 foreign students nationwide used OPT in the most recent academic year. That volume would generate billions in new revenue at the proposed rates, though DHS expects participation to drop as schools become more selective. In announcing the rule, DHS stated the fees are designed to combat fraud, improve oversight, and protect American workers, with collected funds going into the U.S. Treasury. Critics of OPT have long argued that the program functions as a de facto extension of the H-1B pipeline, allowing employers to hire recent foreign graduates without first testing the labor market for available American workers.
For years, Connecticut’s public and private universities have recruited international students, who contribute tuition revenue and often seek post-graduation work authorization through OPT. Tong’s coalition letter warns that the fee would discourage enrollment and harm university budgets. The letter does not address critics' arguments regarding whether the current OPT system affects wages or entry-level opportunities for domestic graduates in fields where OPT participants are concentrated.
The comment letter, signed by Tong and the attorneys general of more than twenty other states, urges DHS to withdraw the rule entirely. It argues the proposal is really a tax that Congress has not authorized and that the agency failed to adequately weigh the economic benefits of the existing program.
For now, the measure remains in the rule-making process following the November 9 public comment deadline. If finalized as written, universities would have to decide whether to absorb the fees, pass the costs on to students or employers, or reduce the number of students they recommend for the program.
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