Sakshi Patel knew from an early age that she wanted to study in the United States. He envisioned himself taking a job in New York City, the financial capital of the world, and living his version of the American dream far from home.
Patel, who earned a master’s degree in financial management from Boston University in May 2025, said she has about two months left on her current work permit and is doing her best to find a job. If he cannot find a job by then, he will have to return to his home country of India.
Just as it is difficult for new graduates to gain a foothold in one of the worst entry-level job markets in recent memory, foreign graduates must also navigate an unpredictable immigration environment to restart their U.S.-based careers and lives. Faced with additional challenges, some international students are making backup plans.
After graduating last year, Patel, 23, began working as a business analyst at a nonprofit organization under the Optional Practical Training Program (OPT), a work permit that international students can obtain after graduation. But after her one-year OPT expires this summer, she will need to find a qualified job related to her degree in order to stay in the U.S. and then apply for the up to two-year STEM OPT extension available to some graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Patel told CNBC Make It that she is “making every effort” to network and find work in the United States. She says the experience was tough, but she remains optimistic. “I came to the United States with that dream, and I still want to live that dream.”
Foreign graduates face additional hurdles in tough job market
Approximately 84,000 international students will earn bachelor’s degrees at American universities in 2026, according to an analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data by the Economic Innovation Group.
Sakshi Patel hopes to graduate with a master’s degree in May 2025 and pursue a full-time job in the financial industry.
Courtesy of the subject
Approximately 306,000 international students will pursue master’s degrees and 153,000 will pursue doctoral degrees in 2025, according to the latest data available from Opendoor, an information resource sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Tens of thousands of these students could enter the U.S. job market after earning advanced degrees this spring.
As the labor market for young workers weakens, many new graduates will enter the workforce.
The number of job openings on early career site Handshake decreased by 2% year-on-year from July 2025 to March 2026, and by 12% from 2019 to 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic. According to March 2026 data from the New York Fed, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates between the ages of 22 and 27 was 5.6%, compared to 3.1% for all college graduates and 4.2% for all workers.
Some students are worried about whether or not they can build a career in the United States.
erica ford
Cornell University International Career Development Coach
Erica Ford, an international career development coach at Cornell University, said finding a job has become increasingly difficult for students, including the 300 international students she directly supports each year.
Students in STEM fields who would have been in high demand in the past are now happy to get just one offer, Ford says. He added that doctoral candidates are looking to opportunities in industry as they see fewer research jobs, and those going into the nonprofit sector are seeing potential employers implement layoffs.
While a low-recruitment job market is having a negative impact on students overall, international students must overcome additional barriers such as temporary work permits, Ford said.
“Some of the most common concerns are whether employers are still hiring international students,” she says. “Am I being singled out because I have a temporary work permit or because I said I would need a sponsor in the future?”
Whether due to changes in immigration policy, a tightening labor market, or a combination of factors, the data shows that employers are reducing opportunities for international students. According to Handshake data provided to CNBC Make It, the proportion of full-time jobs offering visa sponsorship will fall from 10.9% in 2023 to just 2.6% in 2026, with the technology sector seeing the steepest decline.
It used to be that the golden standard was to come to the United States, stay in the United States, and live the American Dream. This dream will crumble.
david lee
PhD candidate in Madison, Wisconsin
Beyond the job market, foreign graduates face additional hurdles amid the harsh immigration environment under the second Trump administration.
For example, processing of applications for some immigration benefits, including the OPT program, has been suspended for people from countries covered by President Donald Trump’s travel ban, leaving many F-1 visa holders in limbo and unable to start working after graduation, Inside Higher Ed reports.
While the “American Dream…is falling apart,” students are “making parallel plans.”
Ford said many international students are responding to job market and immigration hurdles by taking more time to find opportunities and “planning in parallel.”
She said they are still pursuing opportunities in the United States, but are “looking back to their home countries or to third countries that are neither their home countries nor the United States,” particularly across Europe, Southeast Asia, Canada and Australia.
David Lee, 29, a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he plans to start looking for a doctoral program or job in academia in September. He says he’s also considering opportunities in Europe, his native China and other parts of Asia, given the cuts in federal funding for U.S. universities.
Lee said rising tensions over immigration are “shaking the confidence” of his colleagues who want to study and work in the United States. Two years ago, getting an offer to study abroad from a U.S. university was considered the best option, but that is no longer the case, Lee said. He said many of his younger colleagues are now considering studying and starting their careers in Hong Kong or Singapore instead.
“Before, there was a gold standard: come to the United States, stay in the United States (and) live the American dream,” Lee said. Now, “this dream is crumbling.”
The U.S. will issue 97,000 fewer F-1 visas to international students studying full-time in the U.S. in the 2025-26 academic year, a 36% decrease from the previous year, according to an analysis of U.S. State Department data by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The increase in disability could have a long-term impact on incoming academics, Professor Ford said. “Some students are concerned about whether the United States is a place where they can build their careers.”
The loss of international graduates in the United States could also have broader economic implications.
According to a 2022 analysis by the nonprofit NAFSA (Association of International Educators), former international students at U.S. universities start a quarter of U.S. startups valued at $1 billion or more.
The impact of losses can be particularly significant in STEM fields. According to an October 2025 research report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, researchers say a one-third reduction in the number of international STEM graduates could lead to an annual gross domestic product (GDP) loss of between $240 billion and $481 billion over the next decade.
“The research literature provides strong and consistent evidence that highly skilled immigrants increase U.S. productivity and economic growth, with the largest effects coming from STEM-educated immigrants and their impact on the formation of new businesses, scientific discoveries, and patenting of new economic ideas,” the authors write.
President Trump previously said it was good practice to allow international students, especially those from China, to study in the United States, and that cutting the number of international students could financially harm the university system, Fox News reported in November.
These comments stand in contrast to some of the administration’s policies, including canceling thousands of student visas, restricting admissions to international students, and limiting the length of stay for students.
Your first job is just the beginning of your immigration journey
Despite the tough job market, Cornell University’s Ford reminds international students that employers are still hiring and encourages them to take advantage of networking by attending conferences and messaging recruiters rather than relying solely on online applications.
“In a market like the one we’re in right now, going the extra mile to build relationships and make personal connections makes a big difference,” Ford says.
By doing so, international students, who may have limited networks compared to domestic students, become “more than a desk candidate” and may be able to develop professional relationships, Ford said. You may also benefit from a deeper understanding of how the U.S. recruitment market and timelines differ from those in your home country.
Even graduates who secure jobs after college are not free from ongoing immigration stressors. Xinlan Xu, 24, from China, earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2025 and works as a statistician at a medical device company in a Minneapolis suburb.
Xu’s OPT expires this month. She said her company worked with an immigration attorney to pay the appropriate fees and help her apply for an H-1B visa, which would allow her to continue working in the United States. Her petition is currently under review, she said.
I would like to work hard (towards finding a job in America) so that I don’t have any regrets about that time.
Sakshi Patel
job seekers in boston
The Trump administration’s recent changes to the H-1B visa process are already controversial. In September, the White House announced it would pay a $100,000 fee to new H-1B visa holders coming to the United States. Although the change did not directly affect Ms. Xu because she already resided in the United States, the move indicated to her that the work permit process appeared to be more restrictive.
There is a possibility that uncertainty will increase further in the future. In March, the Department of Labor proposed new rules that would increase the minimum salary required for employees seeking H-1B visas by 21% to 33%, depending on their designated job level. The proposed changes could lead to fewer opportunities for young foreign workers who are in the early stages of their careers and are less likely to earn higher salaries.
Xinran Xu says today’s changes in immigration policy make it more difficult for foreign-born workers to build a life in the United States.
Courtesy of the subject
Practically staying in the United States means being prepared to face changing immigration policies. Xu says international students today find it more difficult than ever to establish a life in the United States.
“I expect the next five years to be a bumpy ride,” she says.
As for Mr. Patel, he said in Boston that ultimately, “If my destiny was in India, I would get a job in India.” But even if she ends up returning home, she says she will continue to look for a way to return to the United States.
Until his OPT certification ends in the summer, he says, “I want to make the most of that time so I don’t have any regrets.”
—CNBC’s Nathaniel Lee contributed to this report.
