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Overtime Rule Will Limit Opportunities for Younger Americans, Make Higher Education Less Affordable
WASHINGTON, D.C.,
June 14, 2016
A quality education is crucial to escaping poverty and succeeding in the workforce. Yet at a time when rising college costs are making it harder for Americans to pursue the dream of a college degree, the Obama administration has finalized a new rule that will make matters even worse. College and universities have long warned that the Department of Labor’s overtime rule will force a reduction in student services and an increase in tuition costs. As Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) recently said, “Tuition costs have skyrocketed … that’s the last thing we need to do.”
Rep. Roe added that the rule will impose $9 million in costs on the University of Tennessee, which could force a 2 percent tuition increase for every student in the system. And the University of Tennessee is not alone. The University of Kansas will also face tough decisions as it grapples with the administration’s unfunded mandate. Michael Rounds, the university’s associate vice provost for Human Resources Management, testified about how the department’s extreme, partisan rule will hurt students and employees.
If you look at the fact that we’re relatively flat or decreasing in our budget, it makes the absorption of any additional cost very difficult without taking dramatic steps. And in this case, the ability to absorb these costs because they’re not available means that for the majority of the individuals impacted, they will become non-exempt as opposed to exempt. They will not be able to provide the same services they currently do because they have very good flexibility in how they execute their job responsibilities. They will lose that flexibility. The overtime rule is the latest example of how the administration pays lip service to college affordability while implementing policies that make the challenges of affording a college degree worse. House Republicans will do everything possible to protect students from this flawed rule and their ability to receive a quality education. # # # |
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