Penn State must evolve to survive. Penn State New Kensington already has.

At a time when the university faces a choice between retreat and reinvention, it is poised to close one of the few campuses already evolving — and succeeding. That’s what is at stake in the May 22 vote to shutter Penn State New Kensington (PSNK), one of seven commonwealth campuses recommended for closure.

This is not a nostalgic defense of a small campus. It is a record. A roadmap. And a call for clarity.

Before casting a vote with lasting consequence, trustees and senior leadership deserve to understand what PSNK has already become — and what Penn State will lose if this decision proceeds.

A vision that was working

As chancellor of PSNK for nearly 17 years, I witnessed firsthand the demographic and financial headwinds facing higher education. Penn State, like many institutions, struggled to respond systemically, leaving individual campuses to chart their own paths in a system not built for innovation within a framework designed for the last century.

At PSNK, we embraced the challenge of reinvention by working to define the educational model of the future, one grounded in relevance, regional alignment, cost-containment and forward-looking education.

Our approach was intentional: revitalize a Rust Belt community while offering a future-ready education that would attract students to our campus and prepare them for success in an era of accelerating echnological change.

And it was working.

Our revitalization strategy centered on innovation, partnership and new educational models. Despite our small size, we created a model and initiatives that are recognized by business leaders, community partners, funders and educators across the region. While the pieces have only been in place since June 2022, we were already beginning to see enrollment growth in electro-mechanical engineering technology (EMET) and radiological science (RadSci). That momentum only stalled when the possibility of closure was made public — casting doubt on the future of a campus that had become a beacon of possibility.

A model of innovation with measurable impact

While many were surprised by the need to change, PSNK had anticipated and prepared for it. We built a replicable, scalable model for the future of public higher education. Consider these successes:

• Developing high-growth programs by aligning with Western Pennsylvania’s growth areas in robotics, advanced manufacturing and health care. PSNK is the only commonwealth campus to offer a mix of programs in all three growth areas and is positioned to develop future programs that meet growth needs in Western Pennsylvania. Penn State has already invested in labs and infrastructure for EMET, biomedical engineering technology, biobehavioral health, IT and RadSci. The Digital Foundry has already helped the EMET program transition to a focus on robotics. PSNK is the only campus with labs, faculty and, including the Digital Foundry, with the infrastructure to support additional programming aligned with Western Pennsylvania’s growth areas.

• Revitalizing a region: Through our LaunchBox, student projects and internships, and regional partnerships, we helped catalyze over $120 million in public and private investment in New Kensington, attracting more than 140 new businesses and helping to bring Re:Build Manufacturing to the city. The New Kensington area is still growing. For example, Tec Fusion is planning to put its largest data center close to campus. The city is beginning to offer attractions for students and at least one investor was investing in housing for students before the announcement suggesting the university might close campuses.

• Defining future readiness education: Despite its size, PSNK is a leader in developing future readiness education for the digital age in Pennsylvania. Frustrated with the lack of understanding they received from larger campuses, representatives from several international companies approached PSNK with a problem. College graduates were not being prepared for a new age — Industry 4.0. In response, we launched Future Readiness Education, an interdisciplinary model centered on technology fluency, entrepreneurial thinking and ethical leadership. This concept attracted $1.2 million in Build Back Better funding for the campus to design and lead a faculty academy for the 29 universities and colleges in southwest Pennsylvania.

• Expanding K-12 alignment: We founded the ABC/Create consortium of 14-15 school districts to integrate future-readiness skills into K–12 curricula and create a seamless pipeline from classroom to career. This has directly affected over 12,000 students and 1,000 teachers and was intended to be a pipeline for PSNK once we aligned our academic offerings with the needs of Southwest Pennsylvania.

• Securing sustainable infrastructure: When the university declined to support the campus owning the Digital Foundry, PSNK worked with the Economic Growth Connection to secure funding from the R.K. Mellon Foundation and partnered with local stakeholders to bring it to life. The Foundry is drawing national attention as a model of digital-age workforce development while also serving as a state-of-the-art facility for the campus. Penn State support for the Foundry comes only from development funds and comprises less than 5% of operating costs. This representing a new model of how higher education can partner to bring resources to a campus in ways that meet local — as well as university — needs. Today we have 24 industry-leading technology partners providing over $6M of in-kind contributions, including large international companies like Siemens, Rockwell Automation, FANUC and many others.

• Leading in external funding: PSNK exceeded its fundraising goal in the last campaign by nearly 300% and ranks among the top campuses in securing federal and state grants. In addition, PSNK was the only Penn State campus to receive funding as part of Pittsburgh’s Build Back Better grant application, securing five grants including one for a regional faculty academy and another to extend our robotics training to Beaver and Greater Allegheny.

What Penn State stands to lose

The PSNK model offers a compelling answer to the University’s challenges — a community-embedded, fiscally innovative, academically distinctive approach that directly supports Pennsylvania residents.

Let the record show that if PSNK is closed, Penn State will forfeit:

• A proven, self-sustaining hub for digital innovation and workforce development

• Strong alliances with employers and foundations actively investing in Pennsylvania’s future

• A replicable model for K-16 collaboration and talent development

• Programs in high-demand sectors with real enrollment growth and the ability to develop new programs aligned with southwest Pennsylvania’s future

• A foothold in Pittsburgh’s emerging economy of robotics, tech, and life sciences

• Momentum that has taken over a decade—and millions in external resources—to build

A call for leadership and action

You are not just voting on the future of one campus. You are choosing whether Penn State will continue down a path of contraction, or rise to the occasion with innovation and courage. What is needed is support and time to fully implement the strategy so that the full benefits of the investments made by many external partners can be realized for the campus and for Penn State.

I ask the Penn State leadership and board of trustees to delay this vote. Take the time to understand what is at stake in New Kensington — not only for the campus itself, but for the future of Penn State as a whole. Visit the city. Tour the Digital Foundry. Speak to Siemens, Arconic, our school superintendents and our students. Review the data. Follow the money. And understand what is working — before dismantling it.

If Penn State hopes to lead in the digital age, it must not close the doors of the very places already building the future.

Dr. Kevin Snider is chancellor emeritus of Penn State New Kensington.

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