The vote has angered community members and Penn State administration.
After several months of uncertainty, Penn State’s board of trustees has voted to close seven of its 19 Commonwealth Campuses across the state.
With a vote of 25-8 on Thursday, trustees voted to shutter Penn State DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre, and York.
After a two-year winddown period, the campuses will be closed following the Spring 2027 semester.
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said that enrollment at the seven campuses to be closed has dropped 43% over the past ten years.
“The final picture is also equally sobering. We are spreading out 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.
A committee recommended 12 campuses be reviewed for closure, resulting in the vote that would close seven of them.
A report by the committee was leaked to reporters and then released to the public. The report cited declining enrollment, maintenance costs, and regional competition with other schools at some campuses as reasons for closures to be considered.
Trustee Brandon Short, who voted in favor of the closures, said, “The closure of these campuses is going to have painful effects on all our constituencies in real ways. To all those students and families and faculty, we see you, we respect you. We’re committed to supporting you. But we also have to face undeniable realities.”
The trustees that voted against the plan included Jay Paterno, Anthony Lubrano, Ted Brown, Donald Cairns, Lynn Dietrick, Barry Fenchak, Chris Hoffman, and Nicholas Rowland.
United States Representative Glenn Thompson, who represents Clearfield County, criticized the decision to close Penn State DuBois. He referred to the decision as “a grave disservice to the students, faculty, staff, and local industry.”
“Rather than reimagining the DuBois campus for the future, a pre-determined outcome has been crafted behind closed doors,” Thompson wrote in a recent op-ed.
Bendapudi said the university will work with local and state leaders, donors, and alumni to repurpose the closing campuses in ways that meet local needs across the Commonwealth.
The seven campuses that will be closing enrolled a combined 3,178 students in Fall of 2024.
The plan to shutter the campuses now requires approval from the state Department of Education.
Governor Shapiro has previously said the state government would not interfere with the university’s decision on which campuses to close and said Penn State needed to “right-size”.
