For international students seeking U.S. jobs, the ‘American dream … is

Sakshi Patel has known since she was little that she wanted to study in the U.S. She says she pictured herself landing a job in New York City, the financial capital of the world, and living out her version of the American dream far from home.

Patel, who earned her master’s degree in financial management from Boston University in May 2025, says she has about two months left on her current work authorization and is job hunting full force. If she doesn’t get a job within that time, she’ll have to move back to her native India.

As difficult as it is for recent college graduates to gain their footing in one of the worst entry-level job markets in recent memory, international graduates are also having to navigate an unpredictable immigration environment in order to jump-start their U.S.-based careers and lives. Faced with additional and increasing difficulties, some international students are putting together backup plans.

After graduating last year, Patel, 23, began working as a business analyst with a nonprofit under the optional practical training program, or OPT, the work authorization available to international students after they graduate. After her one-year OPT expires this summer, though, she’ll need to find an eligible job related to her degree, then apply for a STEM OPT extension of up to two years — available to some graduates with science, technology, engineering and math degrees — in order to stay in the U.S.

Patel told CNBC Make It that she’s been “making every effort” to network and land a job in the U.S. The experience has been tough, she says, but she remains optimistic: “I came with that dream to the United States, and I still hope to live that dream.”

As of 2025, about 306,000 international students were working toward their master’s degrees and 153,000 toward their doctorate degrees, according to the latest available data from Open Doors, an information resource sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Tens of thousands of these students are likely to hit the U.S. job market after earning their advanced degrees this spring.

Many new grads will enter a weakening labor market for young workers.

Job postings on Handshake, the early career site, were down 2% between July 2025 and March 2026 compared with the same period the year prior, and down 12% from 2019-2020, just before the Covid pandemic. The unemployment rate for recent college grads age 22 to 27 stood at 5.6%, according to New York Fed data for March 2026, compared with 3.1% for all college graduates and 4.2% for all workers.