Penn State targets under-enrolled programs, duplication as it eyes cuts at branch campuses

Efforts in the coming months to pare spending on Penn State University branch campuses will include reviewing duplicative or under-enrolled academic programs and potentially sharing administrative services between campuses.

The university has offered an update on a closely watched process to cut $54 million, or 14.1%, from commonwealth campus operations in the 2025–26 fiscal year.

That amount is more than half of a wider effort across Penn State, including its main University Park campus, to make $94 million in reductions to erase an projected deficit.

The goal is establishing “a more sustainable operating margin” for the 19 undergraduate locations where costs are up and enrollments are down sharply, according to Penn State.

Enrollment dropped by about 30% across those campuses since 2010, and at individual locations by 60%, TribLive reported last June.

Wyatt Dubois, a Penn State spokesman, said Thursday the academic program review is in its beginning stages and will “help make sure that Penn State is offering the right mix of residential, online and blended programs, at the right locations, to better align with evolving student preferences.

“It’s too early to discuss how course offerings may change,’’ he said in an email response to questions.

Regarding job loss, he said 69% of education and general funds at Penn State involve personnel costs, including salaries “so it is virtually impossible to address the larger budget challenges without some reduction of employees.

“That said, layoffs are not the first consideration when, for example, natural attrition and the hiring freeze have already recouped tens of millions of dollars,” he added.

The update, posted Wednesday to Penn State’s website, quotes a Feb. 29 internal email from Margo DelliCarpini, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor.

She said the campuses must “focus on their distinct areas of excellence and find ways to cut or streamline expenses,” according to the update. “One way to do this is by adjusting program offerings that may be duplicative, no longer necessary or undersubscribed.”

Penn State calls the process its Academic Program and Portfolio Review (APPR).

“If we have courses that don’t attract students, we are not being good financial stewards of our students’ tuition dollars — this is applicable across our full enterprise, here at campuses, University Park or the World Campus,” DelliCarpini said. “The APPR process will help us all determine the right degree portfolio by location and provide the data and rationale for more flexibility in our offerings.”

She stressed that Penn State “is focused on careful evaluation, and despite any rumors, no decisions have been made,” according to the university’s update.

Officials including Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi have stressed the importance of all Penn State’s campuses. In recent weeks, officials have stopped short of saying all would remain in their current form.

“Changes need to occur. What might have made sense decades ago may not make sense today,” DelliCarpini said.

“For instance, currently 14 of our 19 (undergraduate branch) campuses are part of the University College. These are not independent entities — and we must look at duplication of services in every area, such as the registrar, enrollment management and admissions.”

Included in those 14 are five in Western Pennsylvania: Penn State New Kensington; Penn State Greater Allegheny, on the border of McKeesport and White Oak; Penn State Beaver; Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus; and Penn State Shenango.

Those five locations as of fall 2023 enrolled 456 at PSNK; 361 at Greater Allegheny; 504 at Beaver; 419 at Fayette and 332 at Shenango.

Statewide, the branches account for close to 23,700 of Penn State’s total of just over 87,900 students. University Park enrolls more than 49,000.

DelliCarpini said data will be gathered by campus chancellors, herself and her staff to establish preliminary campus-level allocation amounts that she hopes to share later this spring.

The university said there would be substantial input from faculty, staff, students and external stakeholders.

Like its peers, Penn State is facing downward pressure on its enrollment from fewer births, worries about escalating student debt and growing skepticism of the value of a four-year degree versus quicker paths into the job market.

Those issues have impacted not only regional university systems but flagship public institutions, including West Virginia University.

Last year, Penn State adopted a two-year budgeting cycle to better plan for operating costs and revenue needs. It faced a projected $140 million deficit in its $3 billion education and general fund budget for the fiscal year that ended in June, but by August, had pared it to $63 million.

Penn State leaders have cited a range of efforts to revitalize the branch locations, from recruiting more out-of-state students and retooling academic offerings to exploring ways to leverage their locations.

For instance, Penn State Shenango and Butler County Community College announced last year they would explore the feasibility of sharing the commonwealth campus with a community college location.

Penn State also announced that branch campuses will renew or enter into new articulation agreements with the state’s community colleges. They will establish a dual admission program, so students working toward an associate degree program may request dual admission to a designated Penn State branch.