UNC System gives president Peter Hans $493,500 bonus, largest since 2020
UNC leaders approved Peter Hans a $493,500 bonus, lifting his compensation above $1.09 million as campuses cut millions and staff face austerity.
The UNC Board of Governors approved a $493,500 performance bonus for President Peter Hans on May 21, a payout that pushes his annual compensation to more than $1.093 million and gives him the largest bonus since he took the job in 2020.
The bonus, approved unanimously on top of Hans’ $600,000 salary, is more than 80% of his base pay. For Wake County readers watching tuition bills, campus staffing and higher-ed spending, the timing is hard to miss: UNC campuses are still cutting budgets, even as the system’s top leader takes home a seven-figure package.
Outgoing board chair Wendy Floyd Murphy said the award was justified by record enrollment growth, investments in artificial intelligence and civil discourse programs, and Hans’ role in forming a new public university accreditation body. Murphy also said Hans oversees a $20 billion enterprise that includes 16 universities, a specialized high school, two major health care systems, a statewide television network and six affiliate organizations. The UNC System says it now includes 17 constituent institutions.
The board that signed off on the bonus is the policy-making body for the system. It has 24 voting members elected by the North Carolina General Assembly, and it elects the UNC System president. Hans became the seventh president of the University of North Carolina in the summer of 2020, after leading the North Carolina Community College System and serving on both the UNC Board of Governors and the State Board of Community Colleges.
The payment is the latest in a string of large incentive awards. In 2022, the board approved a $451,200 contribution to Hans’ Senior Administrative Officer Retirement Program account after an annual assessment of his performance. In 2023, it approved a $475,200 bonus. Last year, the board voted to give him a $442,200 bonus and raised his base salary by about $145,000, bringing it to $600,000.
The decision lands while universities across the system are tightening belts amid federal and state funding uncertainty. UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee Roberts has said the campus is cutting more than $85 million, and East Carolina University is cutting $25 million and several degree programs. Hans has repeatedly emphasized low tuition, reduced student debt, higher graduation rates, free inquiry, academic excellence, operational efficiency and support for rural health care and nursing education, but the board tied this bonus to systemwide accomplishments, not a specific campus budget fix.
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