Advanced International STEM Students Increasingly Anticipate Shorter-Term Work Stays After Graduation. The U.S. Can Do More To Retain Them.

The United States has a valuable opportunity to increase recruitment and retention of international advanced STEM students by better leveraging underutilized immigration pathways. At a time when restrictive policies are dampening interest in leading destinations like Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the U.S. can reverse its recent declines and keep more international graduates working and contributing to the U.S. Winning the global race for talent is imperative to strengthen American competitiveness, bolster national security, and continue building and growing critical and emerging industries here.

New survey data commissioned by FWD.us reveals that more international students who are considering studying for advanced STEM degrees at U.S. colleges and universities are anticipating short-term work stays in the U.S. after completing their studies. The share of such students who said they to stay and work in the U.S. short-term (three years or fewer) after graduation has increased by 8 percentage points compared to 2021, while the share of prospective students considering staying long-term (four years or more) declined by 13 percentage points.

These shifts highlight how outdated and restricted immigration pathways can influence future STEM professionals’ decisions about education and work. They also highlight an opportunity for employers and policymakers to better leverage existing, underutilized legal avenues, like STEM OPT and the O-1A visa, as entry-points for highly skilled workers.

More prospective international advanced STEM students anticipate short-term work stays after graduation

In 2021 and 2024, FWD.us commissioned surveys of prospective international students from around the world. We asked about the countries of study they were considering and if they intended to remain in that country to work after graduation. 

The 2021 survey found that three-quarters (75%) of prospective advanced STEM students—international students who were considering pursuing advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at U.S. colleges and universities—hoped to stay and work in the U.S. after completing their studies. Some 42% of those students planned to stay long-term, four years or more, while 33% were considering short-term stays of three years or less.

In 2024, as many from that prior class of students surveyed have graduated (or will soon), we surveyed a new cohort of prospective international students about their goals. In this survey, the share of prospective advanced STEM students who prioritize remaining in the U.S. to work has declined somewhat since 2021, but remains quite high, now slightly under three-quarters (70%).

More significantly, we see an increased interest in short-term work stints after graduation, with 41% of survey respondents saying they anticipated short-term stays of three years or less, while 29% were planning for stays of four years or more.

Comparing other leading English-language countries that host significant numbers of international students, we see similar trends. The share of prospective advanced STEM students considering study in Canada, Australia, or the U.K. who want to remain after graduation, for any period of time, actually increased in this survey, approaching the U.S. levels. There is a new equilibrium of roughly 70% of survey respondents planning to work after graduation for all four study destinations.

And yet, for all four study destinations, the share of respondents who said they would ideally like to stay and work for four years or more after completing their studies has decreased, while the share of respondents choosing three years or less has increased. The overall increases in the number of students planning for post completion employment in Australia, Canada, and the U.K. come entirely from students saying they plan to stay short-term. 

It’s worth noting that the share of students who want to anticipate staying long-term in the U.S. is still relatively high at 29%, higher than Australia and Canada. And these results only show the anticipated plans of students who were not yet even enrolled; with a positive experience and the right options available, many of these prospective students could end up staying long-term. The U.S. still has the largest number of prospective international students who would like to stay and work, preserving a key competitive advantage in the global race for talent, particularly as new policy restrictions appear to be dampening interest in other study destinations.¹

At the same time, policy makers and stakeholders should note this striking shift, which could make it even harder for the U.S. to attract and retain top STEM talent. By modernizing the immigration system and expanding pathways—including short-term pathways that already exist but are underutilized—the U.S. can ensure that international advanced STEM students have ample entry-points for employment after graduation and opportunities to pursue permanent immigration options in the future.

More STEM professionals already living and working in the U.S. are participating in short-term immigration programs

FWD.us analysis of government data also shows that participation in short-term immigration programs, like temporary visas and optional practical training, is already happening and steadily increasing. This suggests that the current state of the legal immigration system and the lack of realistic long-term options is already motivating STEM professionals to pursue short-term alternatives.

For example, data published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reveal that permanent green card petitions for STEM professionals holding advanced degrees remained virtually flat between 2018 and 2023.²

Over the same period, the number of temporary nonimmigrant O-1A visa petitions approved for STEM professionals deemed to have “extraordinary abilities” increased by 114%. Similarly, other USCIS data reveals that the number of individuals transitioning from F-1 student status to temporary O-1A visas has tripled since 2018, while the number transitioning to H-1B visas granted to immigrants in certain specialty occupations, often a first step in pursuing a green card, has declined by 15%.

Enrollments in Optional Practical Training (OPT) have also increased significantly for advanced STEM degree holders in recent years. OPT authorizes one year of post completion work authorization for a U.S. employer in a graduate’s field of study, but can be extended to a total of three years for holders of advanced STEM degrees.

In FY 2022, 64,844 international graduates participated in STEM OPT. The program has grown by more than 50% since 2016 (41,782), when DHS published new guidelines and increased the duration of the STEM extension to two years after the 12 month initial OPT. STEM OPT now accounts for more than a third of all work permits issued to international students for postgraduate work experience. This short-term work authorization program is increasingly popular and important for retaining highly educated STEM workers. 

Shifts may be driven by lack of long-term pathways in U.S. immigration system

Our survey respondents were not asked what factors are driving their plans, but a growing understanding of the limited green card pathways in the U.S. for graduates, the lack of congressional action, and the availability of better guidance increasing interest in previously underutilized temporary pathways have likely all contributed to the shift toward short-term stays.

Most international students leave the U.S. after graduating, including almost half of all master’s degree recipients, in part because of the lack of immigration options. Congress has failed for decades to meaningfully improve or expand employment-based immigration options, despite the availability of commonsense legislative solutions to address backlogs (like per-country cap reform and green card recapture), and despite increasing awareness of the relevance of STEM green cards to national security interests and the U.S. defense workforce. For a prospective student, the prospect of a permanent pathway in the U.S. might appear increasingly impossible.

As noted, many graduates will work for one year after graduation with OPT, up to three if they graduate with a STEM degree. After that, facing decades-long backlogs for employment-based green cards, graduates may try to secure a temporary visa to remain living and working in the U.S.

Many advanced STEM degree holders choose to pursue a temporary H-1B visa because it allows for “dual intent,” meaning the visa holder can plan to apply for a green card in the future, can do so, and can be renewed indefinitely as long as the individual has begun that process. While H-1B may have been designed as a temporary work visa by Congress 30 years ago, it has also become the primary entry point for permanent high-skilled immigration. This has contributed to the massive employer demand for H-1B visas; 442,000 people were sponsored for H-1Bs in 2024, despite new H-1B visas being capped at only 85,000 annually, a number that has remained unchanged since 1990.

The difficulty and uncertainty in accessing immigration pathways are likely driving the shift toward shorter-term planning, at least among those intending to study in the U.S. Immigration policy certainly shapes prospective workers’ decisions to come to or remain in the U.S., especially in STEM fields.³

At the same time, more students who are considering studying in countries with more straightforward pathways to permanent residency, like Canada, also indicated in the survey an increased focus on planning for short-term employment, so other dynamics may be at play.⁴ 

While there may be numerous causes, the challenge for the U.S. will be to adapt quickly and strategically to these shifts by ensuring there are multiple entry points for STEM experts to work after graduation, hopefully choosing to stay long-term in the future. This will help the U.S. win the global race for talent, strategically capitalize on these shifts, and keep the world’s best and brightest top talent contributing their skills and education here. 

Maximizing the use of existing temporary avenues to win the race for global talent

Experts across industries agree that the U.S. must attract and retain more foreign-born STEM experts to fuel the growth of critical and emerging technology fields and to protect America’s global competitiveness. Prior reports published by FWD.us document the important role that immigration, including international students graduating from U.S. schools, will play in building the workforce of the future, particularly in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors.

Ultimately, Congress needs to advance bipartisan legislation to make new and better permanent pathways for international student graduates, particularly in STEM. Clearer opportunities and more reliability could help reverse these shifts and drive long-term interest back up. However, emerging industries face urgent and immediate workforce challenges that cannot wait for legislative change in the undefined future. The U.S. needs avenues for qualified individuals to enter now, even if they initially plan to stay and work for only for a short period.

With streamlined government processes and more employer engagement, alternatives to H-1Bs—like STEM OPT and O-1A visas—could be better leveraged to provide U.S.-educated talent with a bridge from student status to work, and a longer runway to their careers and permanent employment.

Protecting and strengthening STEM OPT

OPT is the only immigration benefit available exclusively to international student graduates. It is only available to graduates gaining work experience in their fields of study and has no annual caps. 

Graduate students often use their three years of STEM OPT to support and perform basic science research and development at their universities. Other students will use STEM OPT to begin working directly for a U.S. employer.

For employers, hiring STEM OPT students can help add a global perspective to their workforce and problem-solving across various scientific, technological, and engineering inquiries. Students on OPT gain valuable work experience, training, and institutional knowledge that make them even stronger candidates for permanent positions in the future.

Ending or limiting OPT, as the Trump administration previously considered, as some members of Congress have proposed through legislation, and as immigration restrictionists have tried to do through litigation, would be disastrous. Ending OPT would eliminate the only dedicated pathway available to these graduates, forcing most of them to take their education and training elsewhere and further reducing interest in the U.S. for future international students.

Instead, the administration and Congress must protect and expand access to OPT. A provision at the end of the FORTRESS Act, offered as a Republican amendment to House consideration of the NDAA for FY25, would have established OPT in statute.

Meanwhile, it’s important to ensure that the degree fields that qualify for the STEM OPT extensions are kept up to date. The Department of Homeland Security has sought to modernize the STEM OPT fields of eligibility by adopting an annual review process and ensuring that the fields designated for STEM OPT contain relatively new fields of instruction, like data science and other multidisciplinary fields. For DHS consideration next year, FWD.us teamed with the Center for Security and Emerging Technology and other organizations to analyze  fields of study that form the basis of hiring in the AI technical workforce, and to file a nominating letter sharing data-based reasons to add to the designated fields.

Increasing use of O-1A “extraordinary ability” visas

The O-1A is a nonimmigrant visa available for an individual who “possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements.” 

O-1 visas are not subject to any annual numerical or country-specific caps, they can be issued for initial increments of three years and can be renewed indefinitely, and the State Department has explicitly instructed consular officers that O-1A visas allow for “dual intent,” so an applicant can be admitted even if they intend to apply for permanent immigration status down the road. There are also relative limitations; for example, the O-2 visa for spouses does not provide work authorization.

The O-1A could be an ideal visa for many highly educated and skilled STEM experts hoping to work in the U.S. or start their own companies. And the qualifications for the O-1A are very similar to the EB-1 visa, which can be self-sponsored and is not as burdened by backlogs as other employment-based categories.

Today, the O-1A visa is heavily underutilized. Each year, approximately 14,000 international students graduate with a STEM PhD in the U.S., along with 35,000 international PhDs serving in postdoctoral fellowships in STEM fields. This amounts to nearly 50,000 STEM PhDs annually, which is itself a subset of the broader O-1A eligible population. 

However, in FY 2023, only 4,560 O-1A applications were approved for STEM experts. While this is a significant (53%) increase over the prior five years, it represents only one-tenth of the potentially eligible STEM experts completing their studies or participating in postdoctoral fellowships in the U.S. Of course, not all of those individuals would qualify for an O-1A visa, or even want to pursue one, but even a small increase could boost retention of advanced STEM degree talent by thousands of people each year.

Departments and agencies could do more to enhance certainty and predictability around O-1A adjudications of petitions on behalf of advanced STEM degree holders, and thus stimulate demand from such experts and their employers. This seems particularly relevant given the government’s strong interest in improving attraction and retention of global talent in key sectors, including AI. For example, agency policymakers should follow recommendations from policy experts to clarify guidance about requirements for salaries and education levels, as well as the totality of evidence that can be considered in adjudicating a petition, including statements of facts from interested government agencies and other evidence illustrating the applicant’s extraordinary ability. 

Employers can take the lead by increasing their use of existing pathways

Ultimately, it is up to U.S. employers to increase their participation in these underutilized, short-term immigration programs. These pathways already exist, so U.S. businesses can begin exploring and trying them now. And if they face such low chances of their prospects even being selected to apply for an H-1B, is there much to lose in trying an alternative approach?

Employers should strongly consider hiring college graduates on OPT or the STEM OPT extension. With STEM OPT, employers can hire advanced degree holders immediately after graduation for up to three years, giving them more runway to improve their resume and pursue other temporary or permanent options. Hiring an employee with OPT has no extra fees and relatively simple compared to other sponsorship processes.

Many more employers should also assess whether their STEM PhD hiring candidates are O-1A eligible, and consider bypassing the H-1B lottery entirely. Some employers may be cautious about trying different avenues; for example, they may be uncertain about an employee’s ability to qualify for an O-1A visa, which has fairly strict evidentiary requirements and lists Nobel Prize winners as examples of qualified applicants. However, recent guidance from USCIS clarifies that there are numerous ways to demonstrate O-1A eligibility that should be achievable for many top scientists, technologists, and engineers with STEM PhDs.