Feb. 28, 2025 -- Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan today called on Penn State University to preserve the PSU Scranton campus, and for the Penn State administration to meet with local economic development officials and educators before making a decision this spring.

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi announced Feb. 25 that 12 of the university’s Commonwealth campuses, including Scranton, are under review for closure. She also said that the seven largest Commonwealth campuses -- Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg and Lehigh Valley -- will remain open. Bendapudi, who said that an unspecified number of the remaining campuses would remain open, appointed three top administrators to lead a committee that will present her with closure recommendations this spring. No campus would close before the end of the 2026-2027 academic year, allowing associate degree students who begin their studies this fall to complete their degrees.

Gaughan acknowledge some of the factors that Bendapudi cited in launching the closure reviews, particularly the declining number of college-aged students nationwide. Bendapudi pointed out that some of the counties hosting Commonwealth campuses face projected population declines over the next 30 years, but Gaughan noted that the Scranton campus has a regional student base, which Penn State’s own numbers show.

“A closure would be devastating for the entire northeast region rather than Lackawanna County alone,” Gaughan said. “Closing the campus, as a practical matter, would deny a Penn State education to prospective students east to the Delaware River and north to the New York border. The economic impact of that campus is extraordinary, especially because of recent major investments that Penn State has made in modernizing it, and because of its academic expansion to offer bachelor’s degrees in some of the most important fields to the economic health of Northeast Pennsylvania.”

Penn State Scranton offers 14 bachelor’s degrees in the fields of mechanical engineering, information technology, nursing, and business. It also offers four associate degrees. Under the 2+2 program, students may pursue 275 Penn State bachelor’s degrees by going to PSU Scranton for two years and the University Park main campus for the following two years. Its base annual tuition rate is one of the lowest in the region at $14,624.

About 80% of the Scranton campus’ 820 students are from Northeast Pennsylvania. According to Penn State, the breakdown by county is Lackawanna, 451 (55%); Luzerne, 65 (7.9%); Wayne, 61 (7.4%); Monroe, 47 (5.7%); Pike, 39 (4.6%); Susquehanna, 29 (3.5%); and Wyoming, 12 (1.4%). More than 45% of PSU Scranton students are first-generation students, the first in their families to attend college.

According to PSU Scranton, the campus employs more than 200 faculty and staff, and has more than 17,000 alumni.

The campus also reported that it directly and indirectly supports 384 other jobs in the region, and contributes more than $40 million every year to the Northeast Pennsylvania economy.

“Given that profile,” Gaughan said, “it should be clear to the Penn State administration that the Scranton campus is a viable component of the invaluable Commonwealth campus system, in keeping with Penn State’s Land Grant Mission to bring higher education to every corner of the state, an economic engine of Northeast Pennsylvania, and source of economic opportunity and social advancement for thousands of people from the region.”