Young American college graduates are getting a raw deal.

The unemployment rate for recent college graduates, aged 20 to 24 years, reached 9.3% in August 2025, according to Forbes. For comparison, older college graduates, aged 25 to 34, had an unemployment rate of 3.6%, and high school graduates had a rate of 4.3%.

Why? Business analysts point to “structural issues” in the economy or to artificial intelligence (AI) taking over jobs. But they don’t mention the competition American college students and recent graduates face from foreign students and graduates in America.

This foreign competition is enabled by a creation of the administrative state known as Optional Practical Training (OPT). It is past time for Congress to end this program.

OPT was created in 1992 by an administrative rule. It originally allowed a foreign student to work for one year after graduation from a U.S. college in the student’s major area of study.

But like all immigration benefits, OPT was eventually expanded and extended to nearly four years, moves again made by the administrative state.

Foreign students with an “F” visa can receive up to 12 months of OPT employment authorization before or after........

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