CUNY has ordered its 25 colleges to cut their budgets and implement a hiring freeze, the school confirmed via email Saturday morning.

Most campuses will have to cut their programming and activity expenses by approximately 5% to 6% in fiscal year 2024, according to a memo sent to deans and presidents earlier this month that was provided to NY1. For colleges that are projected to close out either the 2023 fiscal year or the 2024 fiscal year “in a negative position,” the targets will be higher, the memo read.

“The City University of New York continues to look for cost-saving measures without cutting student services, efforts that will become increasingly important as federal pandemic stimulus money dries up,” CUNY spokesperson Joseph Tirella said in a statement.

CUNY is already projected to reduce its structural deficit from $234 million in the 2022 fiscal year to $194 million in the 2023 fiscal year, according to the memo.

Tirella added that CUNY has recently started an advertising campaign called “Degrees Without Debt” in an effort “to highlight the system’s unrivaled affordability.”

In a message to his members, James Davis, the president of the Professional Staff Congress — the union that represents CUNY faculty and staff members — said CUNY should publicly advocate for more funding.

“CUNY colleges cannot sustain more cuts without severely undermining the student experience. Larger class size, fewer instructors, and less student-facing staff support will not help CUNY rebound from the pandemic,” Davis said. “What's needed is immediate additional investment of public funds. City Hall and Albany must come through."