Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi was the target of pointed questions during a state House appropriations hearing Wednesday, as the university moves forward with plans to close seven of its campuses.
Republican state Representative Charity Grimm Krupa’s district includes parts of Fayette County, home to one of the seven campuses Penn State is closing.
“These campuses aren't just facilities on a map. They're lifelines for working-class students, economic anchors for rural communities, and places where people who might never have had access to higher education were able to build a future. … But at the same time Penn State is closing campuses like Fayette, the university is asking taxpayers for more money than ever before," Krupa said.
Bendapudi said the decision to close the campuses was “agonizing,” before Krupa cut Bendapudi off, asking her to respond to a question Krupa had asked about the future of that campus’ nursing program.
Bendapudi said she couldn’t give an answer about any one program because the transition work is happening now.
“We're doing our very best to work with communities to keep them successful," Bendapudi said.
Along with Fayette, the university plans to close campuses in DuBois, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York after the spring semester next year.
The questions came during a hearing for leaders of Pennsylvania's state-related universities. Pennsylvania lawmakers have begun the process of hammering out the budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
State Rep. Jim Struzzi, the Republican chair of the House appropriations committee, asked Bendapudi about how she had responded to questions about potential campus closures at last year's budget hearing. A few days after the Feb. 20 hearing, Penn State announced that it was going to consider closing 12 campuses.
“From our standpoint, it’s a lack of transparency that we’re concerned about," Struzzi said. "I point that out because I think it’s important that as we move forward and we talk about these extensive taxpayer dollars that are going to higher education, that we are transparent.”
Bendapudi said that when she had been asked at that hearing, she responded that "all options are on the table." She said she could not get ahead of the university's board of trustees, which met Feb. 20 and 21.
Penn State is asking for a $49 million increase in state funding, saying the money would be used to freeze tuition for all undergraduates at all of its campuses in 2027-28.
