Penn State plans to close some of its Commonwealth Campuses, university President Neeli Bendapudi wrote in a message on Tuesday, confirming months of speculation that not all locations would survive declining enrollments and mounting financial pressures.
While the seven largest Commonwealth Campuses — Abington, Altoona, Behrend (Erie), Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg and Lehigh Valley — and the graduate studies campus at Great Valley will remain open, Bendapudi said she has tasked three administrators with recommending which of the remaining 12 campuses will continue to operate and which will close. The seven largest campuses account for 75% of all Commonwealth Campus enrollment and two-third of the system’s faculty and staff.
The 12 campuses with uncertain futures are Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Schuylkill, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and York.
Penn State Dickinson Law, the College of Medicine and the Pennsylvania College of Technology will not be affected and will continue to operate.
“We cannot continue with business as usual,” Bendapudi wrote. “The challenges we face — declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures — are not unique to Penn State, but they require us to make difficult choices. Across higher education, institutions are grappling with similar headwinds, and we have reached a moment where doing nothing is no longer an option.”
A group led by Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses and Executive Chancellor Margo DelliCarpini, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Tracy Langkilde and Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Michael Wade Smith will make the recommendations to Bendapudi no later than the end of the current semester in May, and she said she expects to make a final decision by commencement, which takes place the week of May 9-11.
The decision is intended to be long-term and comprehensive, Bendapudi wrote, meaning that she does not intend for it to be “phase one” preceding future additional campus closures.
No campus will close before the end of the 2026-27 academic year, and the university will continue offering admission to all Commonwealth Campuses for fall 2025. All students who begin a Penn State degree will have the opportunity to complete it at the university, Bendapudi said.
Bendapudi earlier this month declined to tell state legislators during a budget hearing whether campuses would close, saying only that all options were on the table. At a January meeting of the university’s faculty senate, faculty members pressed for an answer as well, citing the uncertainty and fear that has lingered over some campuses.
The faculty senate will be consulted, Bendapudi said at Tuesday’s senate meeting, where she was peppered with questions about the process and impacts of closures for more than two hours. But she stressed the decision on which campuses to close would be hers, while adding that multiple groups would play a role in planning for the transition once a decision is made.
“While I respect and value the role of shared governance, this particular decision — determining which campuses will remain open and which will close — is an administrative one that I will make,” Bendapudi wrote. “However, faculty, staff and shared governance bodies will be actively engaged in the planning and the transition to support our students, employees and communities as effectively as possible.”
For faculty and staff at campuses that close, Bendapudi wrote that “we will explore both opportunities for reassignment within Penn State and provide career transition support, as possible.”
Nearly three hours into Tuesday’s faculty senate meeting, a motion to express a vote of no confidence in Bendapudi was introduced but quickly tabled.
Julio Palma, an assistant professor of chemistry at Penn State Fayette, said the motion was not just about campus closures, but rather the overall direction of the university and the lack of faculty consultation on issues such as the cancelation of a Center for Racial Justice and the shift to a new budget model and its implication on teaching and research.
Daniel Foster, an associate professor of agricultural economics, sociology and education, moved to table the vote, saying he did not “believe this is a productive conversation at this time.” The motion to table passed with 120 votes in favor, surpassing the two-thirds majority needed.
A vote of no confidence could be raised again at the senate’s March meeting.
The union representing technical service employees at 22 Penn State campuses, meanwhile, said in a statement that it had been requesting information about potential closures but wasn’t notified until just after Bendapudi’s statement was published on Tuesday.
“I know our members have many questions. We do, as well,” Teamsters Local 8 wrote. “We will continue to press for the information and provide any updates we can as promptly as possible. We will work diligently to ensure our contract is applied, and our members are protected.”
At least one state legislator was quick to advocate for a campus in his district. State Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Richland Township, said “it makes little sense” to close Penn State DuBois.
“I am confident that the special committee will be enlightened to the tremendous successes the DuBois campus has realized, the impact on the community and the integral role this campus plays in the broad Penn State collaborative,” Langerholc said in a statement. “I am eager to showcase the DuBois campus and welcome discussion on how to improve its efficiency in light of other campus closures. Penn State DuBois is delivering cutting-edge, real-world and essential education to many from our region and beyond.”
The future of the Commonwealth Campus system has been uncertain as university officials have sought to close a multi-year budget deficit. In early 2024, the university identified $54 million in budget cuts at the Commonwealth Campuses, while offering one-time funds to balance budgets, and offered voluntary buyouts to certain employees — which 400, or about 10% of staff at the campuses, accepted. The university also reconfigured operations through a regional leadership model, with multiple campuses led by a single administration.
Penn State recently announced another $25 million aggregate reduction for the campuses for 2026-27, though individual campus budgets have not yet been finalized.
While demand for enrollment at the flagship University Park campus is at an all-time high, and Penn State is increasing admissions there, overall Commonwealth Campus enrollment has declined 20% since 2016 and nearly 30% since 2010, according to the university.
A “confluence of factors” led the university to the decision that not all Commonwealth Campuses could remain open, according to Bendapudi.
“We have considered reasonable options to reverse the trend,” Bendapudi wrote. “When I became president, I wanted to explore every possible avenue before considering closures. I believed — and still believe — that our Commonwealth Campuses matter deeply to Penn State and to the communities we serve.
“The demographic challenges facing Pennsylvania are clearer than ever. Many of the counties where we have Commonwealth Campuses are experiencing population declines that are projected to continue for the next 30 years or more.”
Smaller campuses historically draw students from their local area, Bendapudi said, and “there is no realistic way to recruit nationally or internationally to maintain enrollment at these locations.”
She added that despite pleas to the legislature and governor, Penn State’s per-student state funding remains lower than its state-related university peers.
“We have exhausted reasonable alternatives to maintain the current number of campuses,” Bendapudi wrote. “We now must move forward with a structure that is sustainable, one that allows our strongest campuses – where we can provide our students with the best opportunities for success and engagement – to thrive, while we make difficult but necessary decisions about others.”
This story will be updated.
