The Facts About Optional Practical Training (OPT) for Foreign Students

David J. BierThe Trump administrationreportedly is considering a  plan this week to restrict or ban foreign students from working after graduation from U.S. universities. Under Optional Practical Training (OPT), foreign students can study for at least one year after receiving their degrees. Foreign students in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math fields can extend OPT for another two years.The plan is supposedly to benefit unemployed Americans —almost none of whom work in the relevant fields—after states reopen for business. The program is the main on‐​ramp for American companies to recruit and retain foreign talent in the United States. Gutting it would harm U.S. workers by undermining the very companies that would employ them.What is the OPT?The U.S. governmentcreated the Optional Practical Training (OPT) in 1947 to allow foreign student to seek jobs “where employment for practical training is required or recommended by the school” for “a six‐​month period subject to extension for not over two additional six‐​month periods.” In 1991, itsplit OPT into pre ‐​completion and post‐​completion authorization and permitted only a single year of post‐​completion OPT “directly related to his or her area of studies.”What is STEM OPT?In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)permitted extensions of OPT for Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) graduates of U.S. universities for up to 17 months because the “ability of U...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs