Students on campus at N.C. State University. Photo: Logan Cyrus/Bloomberg via Getty Images
UNC System President Peter Hans has called for the state's 16 public universities to cap their hiring and spending.
Why it matters: The spending cap, which Hans described last week to campus leaders in a memo obtained by Axios, comes as higher education faces funding uncertainties at both the federal and state levels.
Driving the news: In the memo, Hans directed campuses to cap salary spending and headcount at April levels.
He added that a school's chancellor (or other designee) is required to approve all new faculty and staff hires and contracts valued at over $100,000.
The News & Observer first reported on the memo's directives.
But Hans warned in the letter that the state budget, which has not yet been passed, is likely to include reductions for the state's public universities as well, creating more pressures on school budgets.
