At a Senate labor appropriations subcommittee hearing, Sen. Alexander asked Labor Dept. Secretary Thomas Perez about the department’s proposed overtime rule. Quoting a letter from a group of independent colleges in Tennessee, Alexander said, “One of our members calculated that the first year impact would translate to a $1,000 per student increase in tuition … It’s expected that the change will cost each four-year campus a minimum of $1. 3 million. Another rural campus noted the change would impact 133 employees for a total of 3.2 million dollars.”

Alexander, who chairs the Senate’s labor committee, then asked Perez that at a time when the administration talks about keeping “college costs down, how can you justify an overtime rule that might raise the cost of college by $1,000 per student?”