Will foreign students be the first to go?
WASHINGTON D.C. — A proposed federal rule currently under review threatens to eliminate the H-1B visa exemption for universities, a change that could deeply disrupt the U.S. academic system and potentially force thousands of international scholars, particularly from India, to leave the country. This adjustment would compel universities and non-profit research institutions to compete in the highly oversubscribed H-1B lottery, a process previously reserved for corporate employers.
For years, this exemption has served as a crucial lifeline for international students aspiring to remain in the United States post-graduation. It allowed foreign graduates, especially those pursuing advanced degrees like PhDs and postdocs, to transition from F-1 student visas and Optional Practical Training (OPT) into H-1B employment at universities without the uncertainty of the annual cap. This provided a predictable pathway for their years of study and research to translate into careers in U.S. classrooms and laboratories.
However, if the proposed rule change is implemented, that certainty will vanish. All H-1B applications, including those from academic institutions, would be pooled into the same annual cap of 85,000 visas. With over 780,000 applications filed in 2025 alone, the odds of selection are slim and heavily dependent on luck. This means that even if a prestigious institution like MIT or Stanford offers a foreign graduate a research position, their ability to stay would hinge on winning a digital draw, not their qualifications.
The group most vulnerable to this potential policy shift is Indian students, who constitute over 70% of all H-1B petitions and represent the largest international student demographic in American graduate programs, particularly in STEM fields. Many of these students undertake substantial loans, banking on securing a U.S. job to repay their educational investment. Under the new regulations, even positions within academia may no longer guarantee legal residency, leading to significant job insecurity and financial challenges that could compel many to return to their home countries.
A new Republican proposal introduced on Wednesday would scrap the H-1B visa exception for higher education staff.
There is currently a 65,000-person cap for the visa, with exceptions for higher education and other select groups, including an extra 20,000 that can be doled out to those with master’s degrees or beyond.
The “Colleges for the American People Act of 2025” from Rep. Tom Tiffany would repeal the carveout made in the Immigration and Nationality Act, and have those from other countries seeking to work in higher education go through the normal H-1B visa process.
“American students spend years earning degrees, only to watch universities hand good-paying jobs to foreign workers on special visas,” Tiffany said in a statement. “The CAP Act ensures our institutions invest in the people they are meant to serve and ends the backdoor hiring practices that undercut American workers.”
The proposal would not be retroactive, so current H-1B visa holders at universities could still apply for their extension without going towards the limit.
The legislation is co-sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia.
The conservative outlet Wisconsin Right Now reported that there are 495 staffers in Wisconsin’s university system who have the visa, which comes with roughly a $43 million annual price tag for salaries.
For fiscal year 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services got enough petitions for the H-1B visa caps as of last week. The visas continue to be a major point of debate across the political spectrum, as some argue that they boost business capabilities in the United States, especially in the technology sector.
Others, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, have blasted them as exploitative.
“The main function of the H-1B visa program and other guest worker initiatives is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest,’ but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad,” the Vermont senator posted to X in January. “The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”
As of 2019, there were just under 600,000 H-1B visa holders, according to USCIS data. The Trump administration could make other reforms to the program soon, according to GovTech.