A new Republican bill wants to end the H-1B visa cap exemption that’s currently given to foreign faculty and researchers at U.S. colleges and universities. Called the “Colleges for the American People Act of 2025,” it was introduced on Wednesday by Representative Tom Tiffany, with support from Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia. If passed, the law would make it mandatory for all foreign hires in higher education to follow the regular H-1B visa process.
“Too often, universities exploit an H-1B visa loophole to hire unlimited foreign workers instead of Americans. Today I introduced the CAP Act with @Rep_Clyde to end this abuse,” Tiffany wrote in a post on X.
READ: Banks and telecom giants overtake tech in H-1B visa hiring, data shows (
“American students spend years earning degrees, only to watch universities hand good-paying jobs to foreign workers on special visas,” Tiffany told Fox News 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.”
Right now, the U.S. issues 65,000 H-1B visas each year with 20,000 more for people with advanced degrees. Colleges, universities, and certain nonprofits don’t count toward that cap as they’ve been exempt. But if this new bill goes through, that exemption would go away. Like everyone else, foreign workers in such industries would have to compete for visas. Those who currently have H-1B visas, however, would not be impacted by the cap and could renew them.
According to Wisconsin Right Now, 495 university staff members in Wisconsin are now employed under H-1B visas. Altogether, their estimated salaries add up to roughly $43 million a year, as per The Economic Times.
This proposal comes in the wake of a State Department review into Harvard University’s involvement in the Exchange Visitor Program, which has drawn attention over national security concerns.
Harvard University is facing a review by the U.S. State Department over its role in the Exchange Visitor Program, with concerns being raised around national security. The focus is on how the university handles foreign scholars and researchers coming in on J-1 visas. While not many details have been shared yet, the situation has sparked wider discussions in Washington D.C. about how colleges manage international partnerships especially when it comes to sensitive research. This review is part of a larger effort by federal agencies to take a closer look at the foreign presence in U.S. academic and research institutions.
Recently, President Trump is once again pushing for major changes to the H-1B visa process. Instead of the current lottery system, he’s backing a model that would prioritize applicants based on how much they’re being offered in salary and how qualified they are. The idea is to give preference to higher-skilled and better-paid workers. The Department of Homeland Security has already sent this proposal for review, which is the first step in possibly making it official. If approved, it could make it harder for smaller companies or entry-level candidates to secure H-1B visas, while giving an edge to top-paying employers.