Across the 12 Penn State commonwealth campuses under consideration for closure, enrollment has declined by 39% over the last 10 years, according to university data. But enrollment decline is just one of the factors university leadership will use to ultimately decide which campuses should shutter.
In a recent letter to the Penn State community, university officials said — in addition to enrollment — they’ll also consider the university’s evolving land-grant mission, population shifts, student experience and success, and the higher education landscape in Pennsylvania while making their recommendation on which campuses should close.
Still, public enrollment data doesn’t paint a positive picture. All but two of the 12 campuses have seen more than a 30% decline in enrollment between 2014 and 2024, and 11 of the 12 have seen enrollment decline by 15% or more in the last five years…