DHS's Next Target Is OPT, STEM OPT, and CPT: What RIN 1653-AA97 Signals — and Why the Rule Just Slipped to 2027

For over a year, a single line item buried in DHS's semiannual Unified Agenda has been the clearest public signal that Optional Practical Training, STEM OPT, and curricular practical training are next in line for regulatory rewrite. The item — informally called the "Practical Training" rule, RIN 1653-AA97 — first appeared on the Spring 2025 agenda and has now reappeared, still unpublished, on the 2026 agenda. The newest entry pushes the expected proposed-rule date to February 2027. Here is exactly what that RIN does and does not tell us.

What we know from the Unified Agenda

• RIN: 1653-AA97, informally referred to as the "Practical Training" rule
• Agency / Subagency: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)
• Stage: Proposed Rule — not yet published; no NPRM text is public
• First appeared: Spring 2025 Unified Agenda
• Earlier reporting had pegged a possible NPRM for late 2025 or early 2026
• Latest entry (2026 Unified Agenda): proposed rule now anticipated February 2027

DHS has told Congress it is "re-evaluating the scope and duration of Optional Practical Training (OPT), including STEM OPT."DHS letter to Sen. Eric Schmitt, dated January 9, 2026, as reported by Erickson Immigration Group

Why DHS can do this without Congress

Like the discretionary 60-day grace period covered in our earlier article, OPT and STEM OPT exist only by regulation — codified at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10) — not by anything Congress wrote into the Immigration and Nationality Act. Because the program was created through DHS rulemaking, DHS can rewrite or narrow it the same way, through ordinary notice-and-comment rulemaking, without needing new legislation. The Unified Agenda entry says DHS's stated aims include addressing worker-displacement concerns, fraud and national security risks, and expanding SEVP's oversight capacity — but none of that has been translated into actual proposed regulatory text yet.

What is not changing — yet

It is worth being precise about what remains untouched. No NPRM has published, so there is no proposed text specifying new OPT durations, new STEM OPT employer-attestation requirements, or new eligibility rules — anything you read describing specific new mechanics is speculation, not confirmed policy. CPT is a separate, related question worth flagging directly: the DHS final rule that eliminated "duration of status" for F-1 students (effective September 15, 2026, covered in our earlier article) left 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10) — the CPT regulation, including Day 1 CPT — untouched. That rule was about admission periods and extensions of stay, not about who qualifies for curricular practical training or when a school can authorize it. The Practical Training rule tracked here, RIN 1653-AA97, is the one regulatory-agenda item that could eventually reach CPT, OPT, and STEM OPT together — and it has not been proposed yet.

The scale of what is at stake

Roughly 1.17 million international students were enrolled in the U.S. in 2025, and about 294,000 of them — nearly a quarter — were on Optional Practical Training, a population that grew about 21% year over year. Any rule that meaningfully narrows OPT or STEM OPT duration or eligibility would touch a large and fast-growing group, which is part of why this Unified Agenda line item draws outsized attention relative to how little text actually exists yet.

Also on DHS's 2026 regulatory agenda: H-1B reform

The same Unified Agenda cycle carries a separate H-1B item, RIN 1615-AD00, which DHS describes as revising eligibility for H-1B cap exemptions, adding scrutiny for employers with prior violations, and increasing oversight of third-party placements. That proposal was penciled in for around August 2026; as of this writing, no NPRM has published for it either. (For where the H-1B program actually stands right now — the FY 2027 cap and lottery outcome — see our companion article.)

Bottom line

If you are on OPT or STEM OPT today, nothing about your status has changed because of RIN 1653-AA97 — it is a regulatory-agenda placeholder, not a rule. But it is the item to watch: DHS has told Congress directly that it is re-evaluating OPT's scope and duration, and the Unified Agenda now targets a proposed rule for February 2027. That date has already slipped once, so treat it as a planning signal rather than a deadline. We will publish the moment DHS files actual proposed text.