Inside Higher Ed columnist and former military officer Wick Sloane published his annual report on undergraduate veterans attending top colleges and universities. Sloane argues that a majority of selective institutions have taken no significant steps to increase veteran enrollment since he began publishing his annual report more than a decade ago. According to the Brown Cost of Wars Project, there have been 30,177 deaths by suicide among US service members and veterans of post-Sept. 11 wars. The number of homeless veterans is estimated to be around 33,000. Sloane notes that while Bunker Hill Community College enrolled 246 veterans this fall, Williams College enrolled 12; Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania each enrolled five; and some institutions reported no veteran undergraduates. Sloane urges these elite colleges and universities to “look out for the three million other people’s children that we, the people, have sent to war.”
The Biden administration’s plan to extend overtime eligibility to millions of American workers, including thousands in higher education, has caused concern among colleges and universities, who say they may have to increase tuition or fire employees. The Department of Labor’s proposal to increase the threshold for overtime pay by 55% is deemed necessary in order to guarantee equitable compensation for salaried workers who earn lesser wages, Inside Higher Ed reports. In higher education, the proposal will most likely impact athletic trainers, administrative personnel, counselors and advisers, admissions officers, and student affairs professionals, as a teaching exemption in federal labor law would protect faculty members. If the proposed regulation is approved in its current form, colleges and universities will need to either give exempt employees additional income to put them above the threshold or switch impacted employees to an hourly pay rate and set up procedures to track their hours. This may result in additional costs and budget cuts to services for students. Some colleges and universities have urged the Biden administration to gradually phase in the raise, create a lower threshold, or withdraw the proposal entirely. Institutions are requesting a minimum of 180 days to accommodate any modifications to the overtime policy.