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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Republican lawmakers are hoping to strip away the H-1B visa exception from college professors and higher education staff.
Reps. Tom Tiffany (WI-07) and Andrew Clyde (GA-09) introduced the Colleges for the American People Act, or CAP Act, which would end the long-standing H-1B visa cap exemption for U.S. colleges and universities.
If enacted, all prospective foreign hires, including administrators and professors, would be required to compete under the standard 65,000 visa cap.
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"The United States maintains one of the most generous immigration systems in the world, but it must ultimately serve the interests of the American people and prioritize American talent," a spokesperson for Congressman Tiffany told Newsweek. "Universities can still recruit foreign talent, but like other sectors, they will be subject to the annual H-1B visa cap.
"They can also pursue alternatives such as the O-1 visa for individuals with extraordinary ability and the J-1 visa for professors and academic researchers, or they could just hire Americans."
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Why It Matters
Currently, the H-1B visa program has an annual cap of 65,000 visas, with certain exemptions for institutions of higher education and other designated categories. An additional 20,000 visas are available for applicants who hold a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution.
President Donald Trump has previously backed employment-based visas, especially the H-1B program.
There has been renewed scrutiny of employment-based immigration as the right is split over H-1B visas, with MAGA-aligned conservatives opposing the program over concerns about job displacement and corporate abuse. Moderate Republicans and tech entrepreneurs see it as a tool to fill critical workforce gaps, particularly in the tech sector.
What To Know
"American students spend years earning degrees, only to watch universities hand good-paying jobs to foreign workers on special visas," Congressman Tiffany said in a press release.
The CAP Act would eliminate the H-1B cap exemption for colleges and universities, requiring them to compete under the same 65,000-visa limit that applies to private-sector employers.
Congressman Clyde wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the bill will encourage higher educational institutions to prioritize American workers.
The bill was introduced following a report by news platform Wisconsin Right Now, which found that the University of Wisconsin System employs nearly 500 foreign workers on H-1B visas, with salaries totaling almost $43 million annually. The report also noted rising tuition rates at the same institutions.
The legislation would not retroactively affect current visa holders. Universities could continue to extend existing H-1B visas under the current rules until the six-year limit, after which new hires would fall under the cap.
This follows reports that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is considering replacing the current lottery-style H-1B selection system with a "weighted selection process."
USCIS received enough petitions to meet the H-1B visa cap as of last week for fiscal year 2026.
What People Are Saying
Congressman 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."
Congressman Clyde wrote in a post on X: "Universities frequently exploit an H-1B visa loophole to hire foreign workers over Americans."
Update 07/29/25, 03:41 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a spokesperson for Congressman Tom Tiffany.
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