Penn State board of trustees approves plan to close 7 commonwealth campuses
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State trustees approved closure of seven campuses in 25-8 vote.
- University cited 43% enrollment drop and financial strain in closure decision.
- University plans to continue investing in remaining 13 commonwealth campuses.
Seven Penn State campuses will close following the spring 2027 semester, the university board of trustees decided during an at-times contentious meeting Thursday — a vote some trustees said was the most impactful one the board will ever make.
DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York will all close following a “wind down” period.
Trustees approved the plan to close campuses 25-8; trustees Ted Brown, Donald Cairns, Lynn Dietrich, Barry Fenchak, Chris Hoffman, Anthony Lubrano, Jay Paterno and Nicholas Rowland voted against closures.
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said it’s a “pivotal moment” for the land grant institution and acknowledged the significant, emotional and consequential decision in front of the board.
“We’re not making a technical adjustment. We’re charting a new course for the next century, for the future of our land grant mission,” she said. “The path that we recommend has been shaped by data, not just quantitative, but qualitative, narrative input as well. Over the past 10 years, the seven campuses recommended for closure have experienced a 43% decline in enrollment. The financial picture is also 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.”
The university is facing challenges including long-term demographic shifts, declining enrollment, flat public funding, and increasing operational costs, the resolution states, which have put pressure on the campus ecosystem.
The resolution also notes that while Penn State serves more students across more locations than any of its peer institutions, it receives less public funding per-student than the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education system and other state-related universities.
Although these campuses have changed lives, fueled businesses and brought Penn State into their communities, Bendapudi said that doesn’t change the reality that the university has to contend with.
“Maintaining the status quo is not sustainable. Many are understandably hoping for a way to have it all. But honestly, the numbers tell a different story,” she said.
The university will continue investing in the remaining 13 campuses, and will “immediately” begin working to repurpose the seven campuses. Renata Engel, interim vice president of commonwealth campuses, and Mike Stefan, vice president for government and community relations, will co-lead those efforts.
“They plan to bring together local, state elected officials, business and community leaders, donors and alumni in every community, to chart a new future. One that meets local needs, workforce needs, economic development needs that reflect local opportunity. That future may or may not involve Penn State directly depending on what the opportunity is but we are committed to help shaping it,” Bendapudi said.
Trustees voice support, opposition
Thursday was the first time the trustees have publicly discussed Bendapudi’s recommendation to close campuses. The board has had two executive sessions on the topic and spent almost four hours deliberating, board chair David Kleppinger said, although experts questioned whether those discussions should be happening publicly, Spotlight PA reported.
Several board members thought more time was needed before they voted, but others placed their trust in Bendapudi and the university leadership.
“We as the board of trustees asked Neeli and the leadership team to go and look at this, and we have to trust that the experts — which are Neeli’s team — have come back with a recommendation that makes sense,” trustee Karen Quintos said.
Academic trustee Nicholas Rowland, a faculty member at a commonwealth campus, said he did not believe that closure was the only or best option.
“In my estimation of these things, we have only just begun to ask the hard questions that, in my opinion, these campuses have long deserved and questions that we as a board, frankly, have left so long overdue. I think that closing them now preempts precisely the kind of revitalization that I think that we say we want for the campus ecosystem,” he said. “Put another way, I think we owe them more than closure. Frankly, I think we owe them a fair chance to adopt and find some way to thrive.”
At least one trustee who was supportive of the proposal thought it didn’t go far enough.
“I think we should go deeper on the closures, as I fear we will be back here discussing the same facts and circumstances in a few years. That said, I defer to President Bendapudi who rightfully points out in her executive summary that we need to focus on regions, not just individual communities, to fulfill our land grant mission,” trustee Mary Lee Schneider said.
Trustee Chris Hoffman, the president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said he represents a lot of rural Pennsylvania as a farmer, and has heard meaningful ideas and things the administration should consider from constituents. He thought the process moved quickly and more conversations were needed.
“A lot of these rural campuses that are to be closed have some great agricultural uses. I understand that we’re going to be looking at repurposing and moving and all that, but in my business we don’t make decisions and then figure out how we’re going to do it. We need to be able to have a clear path moving forward so that we know that this is what we’re doing, this is how we’re going to make sure that we’re addressing those needs,” Hoffman said.
All trustees were in attendance except for Cynthia Dunn, Russell Redding and Carrie Rowe. Those trustees are also members of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s cabinet and they determined the state’s regulatory responsibilities over closures presented a conflict with voting on the matter, Kleppinger said.
Penn State spokesperson Wyatt DuBois said the university will work with accreditors to obtain approvals to stop instruction at closing campuses.
“The Middle States Commission on Higher Education requires notification six months before the official close date, which would occur in the fall 2026 semester under the current timeline,” DuBois said. “The Pennsylvania Department of Education requires notification by July 1 of the calendar year preceding the academic year for which discontinuance is requested.”
Campus closure proposal 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.
Last week Bendapudi publicly released a recommendation report on commonwealth campus closures earlier than intended, following the news leaking. The campuses recommended to close were DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York.
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. After the recommendation report was released, students and faculty were still frustrated with the process and lack of transparency.
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, and the national AAUP called on the board to reject the closures and develop plans that will serve all Pennsylvania students, as well.
A petition in protest of the campus closure plans was delivered to Bendapudi’s office Wednesday by Penn State Faculty Alliance members, a faculty union organizing campaign.
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. Renata Engel, vice provost for online education, is serving in the interim effective May 19, the university announced last week. DelliCarpini had been in the role since 2023 and provided leadership and strategic oversight for the 20 commonwealth campuses.
DelliCarpini was 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.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 7:01 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to include the names of all eight trustees who voted no on the proposal.
