US Proposes $70,000 Fee for International Students’ Optional Practical Training

The proposed fee structure shifts the cost burden onto schools rather than students, which could make universities far more selective about which international graduates they sponsor for OPT — effectively rationing a pipeline that has long fed crypto, fintech and RWA firms with early-career technical talent. If institutions absorb or pass on these sums, the practical effect is a higher bar for entry into the US labor market for exactly the cohort that often staffs tokenization and blockchain infrastructure teams. Whether schools treat OPT sponsorship as a budget line or abandon it is the open question.