Penn State leaders recommend ending 47 degree programs
Students at Penn State University and its branch campuses may soon have fewer programs to choose from.
After an "Academic Portfolio and Program Review," leaders announced that the final recommendations include ending 47 of its bachelor's and associate degree offerings, or nearly 12%, in the coming years.
Administrators said the main reasons come down to low student enrollment and limited employment opportunities.
According to Penn State, 784 students, or 1.1% of the undergrad student population, enrolled in these programs in spring 2026. The university said they will all be able to complete their degrees.
Currently, there is no one enrolled in nine of the 47 programs, and they've started phasing out or not accepting new students into 15 of them. Twenty-four would continue to be offered at another campus.
About three-quarters or the majority of the programs impacted are at branch campuses, which recently faced years of debate over their sustainability, with seven of them set to close next spring, including Fayette, New Kensington and Shenango.
About a third of the programs recommended for closure are in the humanities and arts, and some degrees would disappear at all campuses, including American studies and security and risk analysis.
The recommendations now await final approval by Executive Vice President and Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos.
In a statement, he called the review a "healthy practice" in higher education, and went on to say, "Regular program reviews will help us to be nimble and responsive as the world continues to change, and as we continue to face the reality of changing demographics, stagnant state support for our students, and rising costs."
It's an exercise administrators said will continue as they develop an ongoing review cycle.
So far, there's been no word on potential faculty layoffs or on how much money Penn State could save from these cuts.
More information can be found on Penn State's website.
