Penn State Set To Close Branches Due To Declining Enrollment

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Penn State will soon be required to close some of its undergraduate branch campuses due to a few reasons.

Campus President Neeli Bendapudi made an announcement on Tuesday that due to declining enrollment, demographic shifts, and financial pressure, branches will unfortunately have to close down. In a message that was posted to Penn States website, Bendapudi said the university’s seven largest undergraduate branches will remain open. These branches include — Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, and Lehigh Valley.

The remaining 12 branches will be notified if they will be affected by the closure by the spring commencement. Bendapudi has stated that Penn State has tried to save the campuses, but with the enrollments declining at most schools and populations in nearby areas are projected to continue declining.

“Given these realities, we must make hard decisions now to ensure Penn State’s future remains strong,” Bendapudi stated. “It has become clear that we cannot sustain a viable Commonwealth Campus ecosystem without closing some campuses.”

It is known that the smaller campuses draw most of their students from their local area, and it’s not realistic to recruit elsewhere to maintain those enrollments. About 6,000 students were enrolled at those 12 schools last fall, about of about 23,000 total at the branch campuses.

No campus will be closed before the end of the 2026-27 academic year.