Penn State University’s board greenlights plan to close 7 campuses

Dive Brief:

• In a 25-8 vote Thursday, Penn State University’s trustee board approved a plan to close seven commonwealth campuses after spring 2027 as the institution navigates falling enrollment and budget pressures beyond its flagship campus. 
• Penn State will “maintain a robust presence” throughout the state and continue investing in its remaining 13 commonwealth campuses, the university said in a news release.
• Enrollment at Penn State’s commonwealth campuses has fallen by a third, to under 24,000 students, since 2010. A workgroup of faculty, staff and students has been tasked with helping to retain students and support faculty and staff through the campus closures, Penn State said.

Dive Insight:

The trustees’ vote sets in motion the closure of more than a third of Penn State’s commonwealth campuses, which have expanded the university’s reach ever deeper into the state since the 1930s. The approval came over opposition, both on the trustee board and in the wider Penn State community. 

The commonwealth campuses slated to close — Penn State DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York — will stop accepting new and transfer students after the fall 2025 term. 

Affected students on the university’s “2+2 Plan” — a pathway promoting transfers between Penn State campuses — can transition to another Penn State campus once their original location closes.

Employees dubbed “navigation coaches” have already started reaching out to students at the closing campuses to connect them to university resources and assist them through the transition, Penn State said. 

Penn State plans to offer tenured faculty at closing campuses “need-driven” reassignments to either its flagship University Park location or one of the remaining commonwealth campuses. The university will give priority consideration in hiring for other impacted staff and non-tenure-line faculty, the university said. 

University President Neeli Bendapudi signaled in February that Penn State planned to close some of its branch campuses, homing in on a set of 12 of its smaller locations. At the time, she cited projections of population declines in the counties housing the commonwealth campuses.

Earlier this month, university officials unveiled a closure proposal earlier than intended after it had been leaked to the media. The plan recommended closing seven campuses, noting they would collectively need $40 million annually in financial support and overhead expenses, as well as $200 million in facility investments, to keep running. 

But the plan has plenty of detractors. One group of current and former trustees accused the university of “abandoning our soul” in an open letter published in April. In Thursday’s board meeting, Penn State Trustee Anthony Lubrano cited another open letter from Kevin Snider, the former chancellor of the New Kensington campus.

Snider — who retired last year after Penn State consolidated leadership of 11 commonwealth campuses, including New Kensington — defended his former campus and questioned the decision to close it. 

“Penn State must evolve to survive. Penn State New Kensington already has,” Snider wrote. 

He pointed to a revitalization plan at the campus, which included a focus on high-growth academic areas — namely robotics, advanced manufacturing and healthcare.

“PSNK is the only commonwealth campus to offer a mix of programs in all three growth areas and is positioned to develop future programs that meet growth needs in Western Pennsylvania,” Snider said in the letter. 

Trustee Chris Hoffman pointed to Penn State’s role as a land-grant university as well as the potential impact on the state’s agriculture and rural communities from closing the branch campuses. 

“For me at this point, I have a real struggle to be able to vote for this today because I believe that we need more conversation,” Hoffman said.