News Summary

• Researchers have found that workers on OPT often work in high-demand fields.
• The fee is not yet final; the rule was proposed by the Department of Homeland Security.
• Advocates for international students worry that the fee, compounded with the administration’s other restrictions on international students, could lead to even steeper declines in their enrollment.
• OPT participants make up about a quarter of all F-1 visa holders in the u.s., compared to 15.4 percent a decade ago.
• The number of individuals on OPT has nearly doubled from roughly 147,000 to about 294,000.