# Plain Language Summary: Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025

This bill would eliminate the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which currently allows foreign students to work in the United States after they graduate from college. Right now, when international students finish their degrees, they can stay and work for up to three years (sometimes longer in certain fields like science and engineering) to gain practical experience in their field. This bill would end that program completely and prevent any similar replacement program from being created unless Congress passes a new law specifically authorizing it.

The practical effect is straightforward: international students who graduate from American universities would no longer be able to stay and work here. They would need to either return to their home countries or pursue other visa options to remain employed in the U.S. This affects thousands of students every year—particularly those in fields like technology, engineering, and science where many companies rely on this program to hire talented workers. For employers, it means losing access to a pipeline of trained workers who already understand American business practices and speak English fluently. For the students themselves, it eliminates a valuable opportunity to gain work experience and potentially transition to permanent residency.

The bill's supporters argue this protects job opportunities for American citizens and high-skilled workers already authorized to work here. Critics counter that it could harm American companies' ability to compete globally and might discourage talented international students from choosing to study at U.S. universities in the first place, since they'd lose the chance to work here after graduation.

Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025

Gosar, Paul A.

Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act of 2025 This bill eliminates the Optional Practical Training Program or any successor program, unless Congress expressly authorizes such a program. (The program provides an F-1 student visa holder temporary employment authorization before or after completion of the student's studies, or both.)