Future of Penn State campuses at Hazleton, Schuylkill Haven up in air

UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State is planning to close some of its Commonwealth campuses soon. Seven of them, they confirmed, will stay open, while any of the rest — which include Hazleton and Schuylkill — could close.

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi broke the news in a statement to the campus community Tuesday.

“While it is clear that not all 12 campuses can continue, it is equally clear that a number of them will,” Bendapudi said in the statement.

She said the seven largest campuses will remain open. All of them serve the state’s largest population centers — Abington (Philadelphia,) Altoona, Behrend (Erie), Berks (Reading), Brandywine (Philadelphia), Harrisburg, and Lehigh Valley.

Many of the rest serve rural or underserved communities. Penn State Schuylkill, is the only four-year residential campus in Schuylkill County and one of the only higher education options in Schuylkill County.

Penn State Schuylkill previously committed to using office space in the under-construction Center for Education, Business, and the Arts in Shenandoah, marking the first higher education facility of any kind in the borough in nearly a century and the first in northern Schuylkill County since McCann’s School of Business closed.

Bendapudi claims Penn State has “exhausted reasonable alternatives to maintain the current number of campuses.”

She said that, if any close, it will not be before the end of the 2026-27 academic year, which will allow associate students to complete their degree and 2+2 students to move on to their next campus.

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