Penn State University

Transparency advocates are questioning the Penn State Board of Trustees’ use of closed-door meetings for discussion of potential campus closures that would affect thousands of employees and students.

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi has proposed closing the DuBois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre, and York campuses. University trustees still need to vote on the plan.

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.