Mont Alto among Penn State campuses at risk for closure due to enrollment outlook

Penn State University is considering closing a number of its campuses due to a bleak outlook on enrollment, and Penn State Mont Alto is among those at risk.

Pointing to a sharp decrease in the number of college-age students starting in 2026, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi announced this week that she established a committee to review 12 of the university’s Commonwealth campuses for possible closure.

“We cannot continue with business as usual. The challenges we face — declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures — are not unique to Penn State, but they require us to make difficult choices. Across higher education, institutions are grappling with similar headwinds, and we have reached a moment where doing nothing is no longer an option,” Bendapudi said in a statement on Penn State’s website.

Which Penn State campuses could close?

Based on current and projected enrollment, Penn State believes its seven largest Commonwealth campuses — Abington, Altoona, Behrend (Erie), Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg and Leigh Valley — are positioned for long-term sustainability and will therefore remain open, Bendapudi said.

That leaves Mont Alto, Beaver, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Scranton, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre, and York on the chopping block. Some are expected to survive.

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

The seven campuses not at risk for closure account for almost 75% of enrollment among the satellite campuses and 67% of faculty and staff, according to the statement. Penn State enrollment data dating back to fall 2020 show they had an average undergraduate enrollment of just under 2,400 in fall 2024, while the 12 at-risk campuses had an average enrollment of about 500.

Enrollment is down across the board since the fall 2020 undergraduate semester. One exception, however, is Penn State Schuylkill; it had 698 undergraduate students enrolled for fall 2024, the most since at least fall 2020.

Meanwhile, Mont Alto’s enrollment in fall 2024 was its second-lowest in the five years represented. Originally opened as a forestry school in 1903, the wooded campus north of Waynesboro had 612 students enrolled last fall, compared to 710 in 2020 and about 670 the next two years. In fall 2023, enrollment dropped to 587.

A Penn State Mont Alto spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

According to its report on fall 2024 enrollment, Penn State overall showed a 2.7% decrease in first-time, full-time undergraduate students.

“We have made enhancements in enrollment management, fought for parity in state funding, and sought new ways to expand access. Yet, despite these efforts, enrollment at many of our Commonwealth Campuses continues to decline, and many of the counties that host these campuses are expected to decrease in population for the next 30 years,” according to Bendapudi.

Franklin County has been growing for years, and that is expected to continue for at least another 15 years, according to projections from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

The organization also lists projections for population by age.

The number of 15- to 19-year-olds in the county is expected to drop by 1,357 people, almost a 13% decrease, between 2025 and 2035, according to the data. The teen population will go up slightly after that but there could still be about 1,000 fewer people in this age bracket in 2050 compared to today.

Generally, students are 18 when they begin a four-year undergraduate program.

On the flipside, the number of 20- to 24-year-olds is expected to grow over the coming decades. The Center for Rural Pennsylvania shows a projected population of 9,068 this year, and a jump to 10,388 in 2030. The projected early-20s population falls by 1,290 people through 2040 and remains just over 9,000 over the following 10 years.

At the same time, the center’s projection shows the county’s total population peaking at just over 157,000 between 2030 and 2040.

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When will Penn State Commonwealth campuses close?

Campuses identified for closure will stay open through at least the end of the 2026-27 academic year, Bendapudi said.

This timetable allows associate degree students who begin their studies this fall to complete their degrees and students allows students beginning their studies this fall to complete their associate degree or obtain credits needed to transition to another campus to complete their bachelor’s degree.

In addition, Penn State will continue admitting new students for fall 2025 at all Commonwealth campuses and every student who begins a degree at Penn State will be able to complete it within the university system.

The review process will not include the Great Valley campus that focuses on graduate programs, Dickinson Law in Carlisle or medical programming at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Penn State Commonwealth campus closures: Mont Alto among 12 at risk

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