A new Penn State University program is designed to help undergraduate students explore and navigate changing campuses.
The university announced Monday it is launching “Penn State Pathways” this spring through its Student Orientation and Transition program.
It will feature in-person events at six campuses — University Park, Abington, Altoona, Beaver, Behrend, and Harrisburg — as well as virtual sessions.
“Students should plan to attend Penn State Pathways if they are considering a campus change and don’t know where to start, have a good idea of which campus they might want to change to, or aren’t sure if they want to change campus but are curious to learn more,” Penn State officials said in a statement.
The initiative comes at a time when a lot of students could be changing branch campuses.
Seven campuses — New Kensington, Fayette, Mont Alto, DuBois, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York — will close at the end of spring 2027 semester. Students last fall were the last class accepted to those campuses.
Since then, Penn State has waived activity fees and surcharges for students exceeding the normal amount of course credits per semester. It also updates an online outline of future steps for students at closing campuses.
The university is moving popular programs from closing campuses to ones remaining open. For example, associate degree programs in biomedical engineering technology and radiological sciences at the New Kensington campus will be relocated to the Greater Allegheny campus, which is near McKeesport.
What will happen with the closing campus properties is yet to be determined. Officials in January said there are “potential deals emerging” at a few of the seven campus properties but didn’t elaborate.
“Penn State Pathways is a universitywide program designed to support all students considering a campus change and replaces the former Link UP program,” said Andrew Krebs, university spokesman. “While it isn’t tailored specifically to students at closing campuses, those students are certainly included and were among the groups invited to participate as the program launches this spring.”
Each fall, 2,500 students on average change their campus to University Park and 1,100 students change to another commonwealth campus, according to Penn State statistics.
Following the closure, Penn State will have 13 commonwealth campuses statewide. It also has a “World Campus” online option.
The Penn State Pathways program provides guidance on timelines, resources and what to expect at different campuses, university officials said.
“To best support our students in their path to complete a Penn State degree, we’re offering a hybrid program that brings the support of Student Orientation and Transition Programs to them, rather than asking students to travel to University Park,” said Katie Motycki, director of the Student Orientation and Transition program.
Information on the program and upcoming meetings is available at changeofcampus.psu.edu.
