Penn State president addresses community, releases report after campus proposal leaks
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi addressed the university community Tuesday and publicly released a recommendation report on commonwealth campus closures earlier than intended, following the news leaking a day earlier.
The campuses recommended to close are DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York. Bendapudi shared the recommendation report with the board late last month, a release from the university states, adding that it was not previously shared publicly because nothing is final until the board takes action on it.
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported Monday which campuses were recommended to close and Spotlight PA reported on the internal documents Tuesday. Late Monday, the university released a statement lamenting the leak of the information.
In an email to the university community Tuesday evening, Bendapudi expressed regret that news of the recommendation was shared through media coverage rather than by Penn State leadership.
“I know that for many of you, this is a difficult and painful way to learn about something so important to the future of our University,” she wrote. “The unpredictable sharing of information through multiple channels is causing additional uncertainty and angst for members of our Penn State community.”
In addition to nothing being final until the board of trustees votes, Bendapudi emphasized that no campus closures would happen before the end of the spring 2027 semester.
“I believe the recommendation balances our need to adapt to the changing needs of Pennsylvania with compassion for those these decisions affect, both within Penn State and across the commonwealth, in part because of the two-year period before any campus would close,” Bendapudi wrote in a news release issued after her email was sent. “As we work through the next steps, we will be taking steps to support every student in any needed transition and, we will take every step to provide opportunities to faculty and staff to remain part of Penn State.”
David Kleppinger, chair of the board of trustees, said in the release that the board tasked Bendapudi and her administration with analyzing the commonwealth campus system and the changing needs of the commonwealth.
“The result is a robust, data-informed review of the Commonwealth Campus ecosystem, enrollment trends, demographic projections, financial performance, and other factors,” Kleppinger said. He added it is “disappointing” that one or more trustees have “prioritized their own self-interests above both the best interests of the University we serve and the people these decisions will affect” by leaking information to the media.
Report outlines impact on faculty, staff, students
The report, which can be viewed at the end of this article, states the seven recommended campuses face overlapping challenges, like enrollment and financial decline, low housing occupancy and a large maintenance backlog.
“The projected low enrollments pose challenges for creating the kind of robust on-campus student experience that is consistent with the Penn State brand. Keeping them open would require an estimated $19 million in annual financial support, $21 million in annual overhead expense, and more than $200 million in future facilities investment— resources that could be redirected to enhance and strengthen the campuses that remain,” the report states. “These campuses currently enroll 3.6% of Penn State’s students and employ 3.4% of Penn State’s faculty and 2.2% of Penn State’s staff.”
Every student who starts a degree at a closing campus will still have the opportunity to complete their degree at the university, the release states. Each student impacted by a closure will receive personalized guidance and advising to understand their options.
Because no campus will close before the end of the 2026-27 academic year, all current or admitted students at closing campuses can complete their associate degree work there, according to the release. Students working toward their bachelor’s degree can continue at their campus through the 26-27 academic year. They may be able to complete their degrees there or at another campus, depending on the number of credits needed.
Students will not be admitted to closing campuses beyond the fall 2025 semester.
For faculty and staff, Penn State said it will honor tenure and non-tenure-line contracts. For tenure-line faculty at a campus closing, “need-driven reassignments” to remaining campuses will be offered. For non-tenure-line and staff, Penn State will offer “priority hiring consideration” to those applying for open positions across the university system.
“The University will do all it can to support employees who want to continue their careers at Penn State,” the release states.
A public meeting for the board of trustees to vote on the recommended closures has not been scheduled. A meeting was tentatively scheduled for later this week but was changed to an executive session to give board members more time to review the recommendation, according to university spokesperson Wyatt DuBois.
More information is available on the Penn State Roadmap website.
Commonwealth conversation has been controversial
Bendapudi announced in February that 12 of Penn State’s 19 commonwealth campuses will be under consideration for closure. At the time, Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Shenango, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and York were under consideration. Factors taken into consideration include enrollment, Penn State’s evolving land-grant mission, population shifts, student experience and success, and the higher education landscape in Pennsylvania.
Many campuses have seen steep enrollment decreases and the counties in which the campuses are located are expected to see a population decline in the next 30 years, Bendapudi said in February.
Penn State has 19 commonwealth campuses in addition to University Park and the future of the campus system has been in question for some time. Last year, the university offered a buyout program at the campuses, which resulted in an overall 10% reduction in personnel, implemented a regional leadership model that has many commonwealth campuses being led by one administration, and leaned more heavily into shared services among campuses. More recently, Penn State’s budget allocations for the fiscal year 2026-27 shows funding for commonwealth campuses will be cut by about 7%, or about $25 million.
The announcement to close campuses has been controversial. The announcement came shortly after Bendapudi and other university leadership refused to give clear answers regarding if campus closures were planned, even when directly asked by lawmakers. When asked directly during a faculty senate meeting a month before the announcement, leadership also didn’t give a direct answer about the future of the commonwealth campus system.
Since the announcement that some campuses would close, faculty members said employee morale hit an all-time low, and this past semester was riddled with stress and uncertainty as they waited to hear which campuses would close.
Last month the Penn State faculty senate passed a positional report opposing the closure of commonwealth campuses and asked the university administration to pause the decision until an impact assessment can be conducted. The Penn State chapter of the American Association of University Professors also urged the university’s administration to keep all of the commonwealth campuses open and fully funded.
Since the initial announcement in February, the university said Margo DelliCarpini, Penn State’s vice president for commonwealth campuses and executive chancellor, is leaving for a new job at the end of June. DelliCarpini has been in the role since 2023 and provides leadership and strategic oversight for the 20 commonwealth campuses.
DelliCarpini is one of the co-leaders of a committee that gave Bendapudi a final recommendation of which campuses should close. Another co-leader, Tracy Langkilde, will leave her role as interim executive vice president and provost in August and Fotis Sotiropoulos of Virginia Commonwealth University will permanently take over.
