Colleges Predict Tuition Increases, Layoffs Under Proposed Overtime Rule
Katherine Knott
November 13, 2023
The Biden administration wants to dramatically expand employees’ eligibility for overtime. Supporters say that’s only fair. Institutions say it will cost them millions.
Colleges and universities are warning they might have to raise tuition or lay off staff in response to a Biden administration plan to extend overtime eligibility to millions of U.S. workers, including thousands in higher education.
That’s according to their public comments on the Department of Labor’s proposal to raise the income cutoff for overtime pay by 55 percent. The administration and its supporters say the rule change is needed to ensure that lower-paid salaried workers receive fair compensation.
More than 33,000 comments were filed in response to the administration’s plan, which the higher education industry opposes, by last week’s deadline for weighing in. The change would expand overtime eligibility to 3.6 million salaried workers across all sectors of the economy, including those on college campuses, who tend to be lower paid and work inconsistent schedules.
