Trump Wants to Curb Work Authorization for Foreign Graduates. Here’s What’s at Stake for Higher Ed.

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing whether to set limits on a program that is a major incentive for foreign students to come to America for college.

The Optional Practical Training program, or OPT, allows international students to remain in the United States on their student visas after they graduate from college, so that they can work in their field of study for at least a year. According to news reports, the administration is considering restrictions in the program, in an effort to reduce competition for recent American college graduates who are entering the work force as the economy contracts because of the coronavirus.

Growth in OPT participation has also provided one of the few bits of good news for international enrollment in recent years. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 1.5 million foreign graduates obtained OPT authorization between 2004 and 2016. More than half of them were approved for employment in STEM fields.

Meanwhile, the number of new international students over all has fallen in recent years — and institutions are predicting drops in foreign-student enrollment this fall in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s a look at the Optional Practical Training program’s importance to higher education: