The Optional Practical Training program is one of many reasons why studying in the US is popular among international students. However, the OPT program may be phased out or lose its appeal to overseas students.
The Optional Practical Training (OPT) program is a legal way for foreign students holding F-1 visas to work and gain experience in American companies after completing their education in the US.
Rising Voices Against OPT
In order to make the MAGA campaign successful, the Trump administration has been enacting enforcement measures to discourage foreign workers. Both the H-1B Visa program and OPT programs allow foreigners to be hired by US companies.
These foreign work permit programs have been accused of hiring cheap foreign labour by misusing and abusing the rules set by the US authorities.
Americans are totally furious about this, and many of them, including lawmakers and those on social media, are advocating for the termination of the H-1B Visa program and the extension of the OPT for students. The OPT program is under fire as lawmakers call to terminate the optional training program
Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s Director of Policy Studies, has questioned the popular Optional Practical Training program in its current form.
Vaughan has suggested that Congress review visa categories, including Optional Practical Training (OPT), to assess the need for tighter management, reduction, or elimination of the OPT program.
She specifically recommended eliminating or closely regulating OPT and Curricular Practical Training (CPT) programs, asserting they were not authorized by Congress and have contributed to issues such as diploma mills, fake schools, bogus training programs, and illegal employment.
Joseph Edlow, the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also said that he is in favour of ending the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme that allows foreign graduates to work in America post completion of their studies.
US lawmakers have also introduced a bill in Congress titled ‘Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025’ that aims to eliminate the Optional Practical Training Program or any successor program, unless Congress expressly authorizes such a program.
Representative Paul A. Gosar, while introducing the Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act, stated, the OPT program completely undercuts American workers, particularly higher-skilled workers and recent college graduates, by giving employers a tax incentive to hire inexpensive, foreign labor under the guise of student training.
Never authorized by Congress, OPT circumvents the H-1B visa cap set by Congress by allowing over 100,000 foreigners admitted into our country on student visas to continue working in the United States for another three years after completing their academic studies, said Gosar.
“OPT incentivizes greedy businesses to fire Americans and replace them with inexpensive foreign labor by avoiding having to pay FICA and Medicare payroll taxes and other employee benefits.
The OPT program completely abandons young Americans who have spent years and tens of thousands of dollars pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, only to be pushed out of those fields by cheap foreigners.
Our government should not be incentivizing foreign employees over Americans. This badly flawed government program should be eliminated,” added Gosar.
Taxing OPT Students
OPT students in jobs are exempt from payroll taxes, making them at least 10-15 percent cheaper than a comparable American worker. NumbersUSA reports that OPT costs the Social Security and Medicare trust fund $4 billion annually.
US lawmakers have proposed taxing the earnings of international students participating in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which would revoke their current exemption from FICA taxes.
The Dignity Act proposes that international students participating in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program in the U.S. would be required to pay FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes on their earnings.
What is the OPT Program
There are three types of practical training available for F-1 students: the curricular practical training (CPT) and optional practical training (OPT) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Optional Practical Training extension (STEM OPT).
Eligible students can apply for up to 12 months of OPT employment authorization before and after their studies. STEM OPT is a 24-month extension of OPT for foreign students with STEM degrees in qualifying fields of study.
OPT Students in the US
Currently, there are an estimated 540,000 students employed in the US under these training programs. In 2024, 194,554 international students were granted work authorization through OPT, 95,384 international students were granted work authorization through STEM OPT, and 130,586 international students were granted work authorization through CPT.
In 2024, Amazon was the leading employer of international students engaging in pre- and post-completion OPT, with 5,379 hires.