Penn State leadership took its “road map for the future” on the road Wednesday. President Neeli Bendapudi and other university leaders held a Q&A with commonwealth campuses in an auditorium at its Altoona campus.
More than 90 questions were submitted anonymously ahead of time online and attendees could ask questions in person. Many surrounded the $54 million cut in university funding for Commonwealth Campuses in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
There were only about 110 people in the room, but more than a thousand online.
Penn State did not allow the media to record the discussion or ask questions.
Following the discussion, first-year Penn State Altoona student Andrew Demitis waited outside, hoping to meet Bendapudi before she left. He was interested in a plan she mentioned for Penn State to create a pathway to enrollment for K-12 students.
“I've been concerned with the enrollment since my dad came here, probably around 15 years ago. And ever since then, we've seen a dramatic decrease of students and student life,"Demitis said.
Demitis said he thinks increasing Greek life on campus would help.
“Enrollment is one of the best solutions to get out of deficit. And if you can increase your enrollment through student life, then you fix one problem there," Demitis said.
Overall enrollment at Penn State’s Commonwealth campuses has dropped almost 30% since 2010, according to university data.
Demitis did not get a chance to meet with Bendapudi. She left the meeting through another door.
Others at the meeting asked if Penn State would close any campuses, and promote its online world campus more instead.
Bendapudi said it would be irresponsible of her to say changes aren’t coming, but she did say campus closures are far down the list of possible solutions.
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