Trump’s new $70,000 OPT fee could reshape US jobs path for Indian students. What changes?
The proposal may alter US hiring economics for international graduates, with mixed implications for Indian IT delivery, staffing and education linked businesses.
· Business Today Mkts
The proposed change could be particularly significant for students from countries such as India and China, which account for large numbers of international students in US higher education and are major sources of skilled workers entering the American technology sector.
The analysis
A proposal attributed to Trump would impose a $70,000 fee tied to OPT, potentially altering the route from American higher education into employment for international graduates. The change is especially relevant to students from India and China, which supply substantial international enrolment and skilled entrants to the US technology workforce. As of October 8, 2026, the material identifies the measure as a proposal, not an enacted rule. It does not specify who would pay, when the charge would begin, whether exemptions would apply, or which OPT categories would be covered.
For Indian equities, the main exposure lies in IT services, technology staffing, overseas education and education finance. A large mandatory charge could make US hiring of international graduates less attractive, potentially narrowing the local talent pool and raising recruitment costs for technology employers. This could encourage more work to be delivered from India, but it could also complicate onsite staffing and client delivery for Indian IT vendors, leaving the net effect uncertain. Formal rulemaking, clear payment liability, implementation dates and evidence of changed graduate hiring would confirm this reading. Withdrawal, broad exemptions or employers absorbing the fee without changing recruitment would weaken it.