Plans for future of Penn State's closing campus properties to be set by 2027

A second round of meetings with Penn State leadership and communities where branch campuses are closing, and what the future holds for those properties, will soon be underway, university administration said Thursday.

Seven branch campuses — New Kensington, Fayette, Shenango, Mont Alto, DuBois, Wilkes-Barre and York — will close at the end of the spring 2027 semester, a decision administration cited as necessary because of declining enrollment, finances and the limited potential for growth.

Administrators held invitation-only meetings with community leaders at each closing campus this fall to brainstorm how the properties can be transitioned after the campuses close in two years.

Those meetings went well, according to Mike Stefan, Penn State’s vice president for government and community relations.

Local officials who attended the Penn State New Kensington meeting identified workforce training as a possible future use of the Upper Burrell campus. Fayette leaders established a task force to determine a possible future use of the Eberly Campus property.

“There are certainly some campuses that have a clearer path forward that we’re hoping to advance, but we also want to continue to work with the communities around all of the campuses to ensure that progress isn’t slowed down by delay in conversation,” Stefan said without elaborating.

“Helping certain communities to continue that path forward, and exploring opportunities that have already started to surface at other areas, is our goal at this point,” he said.

Stefan said he is optimistic that plans will be in place at every closing branch campus before they close in two years.

Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses Renata Engel said administration continues to work through curriculum, student engagement and transition, communications and job opportunities for employees at closing campuses.

Nineteen non-tenure-line faculty and staff at closing campuses have taken advantage of a university priority hiring process to be relocated to another campus, Engel said. Penn State has earmarked financial support for relocation costs, she said.

Work is ongoing for tenure-line faculty reassignments, she said.

Penn State is working to backfill positions at campuses, Engel said, and considering ways to consolidate administrative tasks so staff still at closing branch campuses can continue to focus on students’ needs.

Penn State also asked faculty whether they are interested in, and able to, support another campus by picking up teaching assignments. Engel said 182 faculty members volunteered to do that.

Penn State is discussing ways to continue communication about the closing campuses’ futures. People can share feedback on the commonwealth campuses at roadmap.psu.edu.

“This is always an area that needs constant attention, and we always look for ways to communicate with our constituents, our communities,” Engel said.

Trustee Rob Fenza said planning for the closing commonwealth campuses has “terrific momentum.”

“The feelings that I have are very optimistic about the outcomes in most of our campuses,” Fenza said. “Several are still a challenge to work through, and we know what we have to do, and we’ve got a few months this fall that we’re going to target some of those tougher places and get some progress.

“I’m very optimistic about our timetable, and the team working on this is doing a great job.”