UNC-Chapel Hill is cutting $70 million in costs, as uncertainty over federal funding continues.
Universities such as Harvard, Columbia, and more recently Duke, have come under scrutiny by the Trump Administration.
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On Tuesday, Duke Health had more than $100 million in federal funding frozen.
The UNC Board of Trustees met Wednesday and Thursday to hear about the cost cutting, weeks ahead from the start of the fall semester.
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts told WRAL they are focused on constructive dialogue with policy makers amid the cuts to other schools.
“I personally have spent a lot of time in Washington over the last six or eight months, just trying to make sure that we're in close touch with our elected representatives and with administration officials, and we think we have a really good dialog underway,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the uncertainty is difficult for everyone.
“We're active members of the AAU and the APLU, and so there's a lot of dialog there about federal activity, how universities can, can best prepare and respond,” Roberts said.
The $70 million in savings will impact aid to out-of-state students, include faculty retirement incentives, and cut jobs, a decision Roberts said was not taken lightly.
“Layoffs are always the last resort. We'll do everything we can through attrition. We understand how much anxiety an announcement like this creates, and we're going to do our best to make sure that people have as much information as we can provide as soon as we as soon as we can provide it,” Roberts said.
UNC says they will create a Chancellor's Forum series to keep the university community updated on the reductions.