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Penn State Closing Some Commonwealth Campuses As Enrollment Drops: Find Out Which Ones

Penn State University will close some of its Commonwealth Campuses as part of a major restructuring effort, citing declining enrollment and shifting demographics across Pennsylvania.

Old Main, the administrative building for Penn State University in State College, PA.

Old Main, the administrative building for Penn State University in State College, PA.

 Photo Credit: Unsplash - Raj Gandhi
Chris Spiker
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Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi announced the decision in a letter on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The university's 19th president said the system can no longer sustain all of its Commonwealth schools, which operate as satellites of the main State College campus.

A final recommendation on which campuses will close is expected by the end of the spring semester.

"We must acknowledge the realities before us," said Bendapudi. "We cannot continue with business as usual. 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."

The 19 Commonwealth campuses had 23,257 students at the start of the fall 2024 semester, according to Penn State enrollment data. That's down more than 12 percent from the 26,557 enrolled students in the fall of 2020.

Penn State confirmed that its seven largest Commonwealth campuses — Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, and Lehigh Valley — along with the graduate-focused Great Valley campus, will remain open. These locations account for 75 percent of total Commonwealth campus enrollment, along with two-thirds of Commonwealth faculty and staff.

A working group will determine which of the remaining 12 schools will stay open and which will close. That group will be led by Commonwealth campuses vice president Margo DelliCarpini, interim executive vice president and provost Tracy Langkilde, and senior vice president Michael Wade Smith.

The Penn State Commonwealth campuses that could close are:

  • Beaver (496 students in fall 2024)
  • DuBois (385)
  • Fayette (407)
  • Greater Allegheny (353)
  • Hazleton (515)
  • Mont Alto (613)
  • New Kensington (432)
  • Schuylkill (698)
  • Shenango (309)
  • Scranton (827)
  • Wilkes-Barre (329)
  • York (703)

Specialized campuses, including Penn State Dickinson Law, the Penn State College of Medicine, and the Pennsylvania College of Technology, are not part of the closure review and will continue operating as usual.

Campus closings won't happen until after the 2026-27 academic year. The university will continue admitting students for fall 2025 and all students who start a Penn State degree will have a pathway to complete it at another campus or online.

Bendapudi pointed to several factors leading to the decision, including persistent enrollment declines at smaller campuses and projected population decreases in many counties that host them.

"We have exhausted reasonable alternatives to maintain the current number of campuses," she said. "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."

More data and details on the selection process are expected in the coming weeks.

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