Penn State’s Board of Trustees Votes to Close Seven Satellite Campuses

Penn State’s Board of Trustees Votes to Close Seven Satellite Campuses

This is another case of lower enrollment. A lot of that going around right now.

CBS News reports:

Penn State board votes to close 7 branch campuses

Penn State’s board has voted to close seven of the university’s branch campuses.

After nearly two hours, Penn State’s board of trustees voted 25-8 against closing the DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York campuses after the spring of the 2026-27 academic year.

“This decision before us is not only difficult, but it’s deeply personal for all of us and the people involved,” said Penn State board of trustees chair David Kleppinger.

Penn State cites declining enrollment

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said over the past 10 years, enrollment has dropped 43% at those seven campuses and the financial picture is equally sobering.

“We are spreading our students, faculty and staff so thin that we jeopardize the quality of education and the support that we can offer. We are subsidizing decline at the expense of growth,” Bendapudi said.

“I want to be clear: we did not arrive at this moment because people failed. In fact, the opposite is true. We heard from more than 500 people … emails, letters, calls, mostly, of course, advocating for their local campus,” she added.

Some trustees wanted more time to decide

Some of the trustees who weren’t on board with the closures wanted more time to make the best decision.

“I’m going to vote against and it’s not because these challenges aren’t real. It’s because our values must be real,” said trustee Nicholas Rowland.

“I stand for a vote to go on, not a vote for closure,” said trustee Ted Brown.

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