Penn State University

The Penn State Board of Trustees plans to gather in a virtual-only meeting in May to decide the fate of 12 commonwealth campuses. University President Neeli Bendapudi will propose which of the campuses to close.

Since Penn State announced its multimillion-dollar budget deficit in 2022, the university has deeply cut the budgets to its graduate school and engineering college, a Spotlight PA analysis found.

Penn State could close up to 12 of its 20 commonwealth campuses. It’s unclear what authority the Board of Trustees has in approving the university president’s plan.

Penn State’s commonwealth campuses enroll a more racially diverse group of people, a greater percentage of Pennsylvania residents, and more first-generation college students, than its flagship at University Park.

An agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says Penn State is a “responsible person” for releasing PFAS at its airport.

Trustee Anthony Lubrano says Penn State is investigating him for proposing “Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium.” The university may also remove Barry Fenchak from its board.

With bonds, Penn State is likely to take on the debt necessary to fund the football stadium project. But the athletics department will ultimately be responsible for paying back the loans.

Penn State leaders say they’re paying close attention to the creation and work of a new Pennsylvania council that will make recommendations for performance-based funding for Penn State, Pitt and Temple.

Trustee Barry Fenchak alleges that Penn State leaders have prevented him from reviewing information about the university’s endowment, which he said is indicative of larger problems on the board.

Penn State will see flat funding from the state in 2024-25. Gov. Josh Shapiro approved the funding Thursday night, almost two weeks past the deadline.