Penn State 2+2 students, alumni react to pending branch campus closures, ‘what stands to be lost’

• Kiera Ginn | The Daily Collegian

• Feb 28, 2025

Clarification: Information regarding Ballou being a member of the board of trustees has been corrected and changed, as well as the wording of one quote.

Penn State issued a statement announcing commonwealth campus closures prompted by declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures. The announcement was made ahead of the Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday, during which faculty questioned the lack of transparency and consultation in the decision-making process.

It was confirmed that Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, Lehigh Valley, Great Valley, Dickinson Law, the College of Medicine and the Pennsylvania College of Technology will remain open.

That leaves 12 campuses under consideration for closure as early as the 2027-28 academic year— Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Scranton, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York. No decisions have been made regarding which campuses and how many will be closing, according to President Neeli Bendapudi.

While Bendapudi said it’s guaranteed that any student who begins their degree at Penn State will be able to complete it, 2+2 students and alumni still have concerns about the stakes.

Jeffrey Ballou, alumnus of Penn State’s Greater Allegheny campus and candidate for the Board of Trustees, said the news of campus closures is saddening and sudden.

“The news of a potential closing of any campus is, frankly, devastating and recognizing that it's because people aren't simply figures on a balance sheet,” Ballou said. “These are people's lives. These aren't just the transient students that come and go. These are faculty, staff.”

Ballou said there were members of the board of trustees who were not in the loop when the announcement was made.

“Some trustees told me they were absolutely blindsided, and they're asking hard questions about why did they not hear this at their own meeting last Thursday and Friday,” Ballou said.

Similar to Ballou, Serenity Fullem, a 2+2 student who studied at Penn State Fayette, found the recent announcement frustrating.

“Back at Fayette, I remember when the first budget cuts and buyout was first announced for commonwealth campuses,” Fullen, a third year studying psychology, said. “I was in a meeting with one of my professors, and another professor came in, and they were talking about it, and I know a lot of professors felt really betrayed by that specific happening.”

Fullem said closing campuses could limit opportunities for the surrounding communities.

Sienna Pinney

“(I’m) frustrated because I understand that a lot of those communities are dwindling in population … but taking away those campuses takes away an accessible opportunity for improvement and education in those areas, which is more important than ever,” Fullem said.

Fullem said closing these campuses will impact the local communities and the learning opportunities the campuses provide them.

“We went to Penn State Fayette for a lot of community things,” Fullem said. “They support the arts by doing theater (and) performances occasionally. We went there from fifth grade all the way up to when we graduated high school for academic league.”

Ballou said the land-grant mission is to provide opportunities to the communities throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the closing of campuses leaves both the land grant mission and communities across Pennsylvania behind.

“The whole point of a land-grant mission is to have life better than your parents or your grandparents, or whoever raised you and sent you to Penn State,” Ballou said.

Matthew Howard, a 2+2 student who studied at Penn State Scranton, said many small colleges in the area are struggling, and this campus closure could further limit opportunities.

“Some people maybe want to be closer to home … so (people) don't have to … spend as much money and as much aggravation to get a degree,” Howard, a fourth-year studying meteorology, said. “I've seen some people do that.”

Ballou shared similar sentiments.

“We're closing off that on-ramp to be able to feed, to keep enriching and reinvigorating that sense of a soul of not leaving behind populations who want to better themselves,” Ballou said. “That separates us from other universities, that we actually have a heart and soul of why we do what we do, beyond the first-class education. And that's what stands to be lost.”