PASSHE Institutions Merging

[Ship69]

I would guess Wilkes Barre closes in the east with an enrollment of only 329 students and several other colleges in the area. Hazleton has some degrees that may keep it alive, like the only branch with alternate energy and power engineering program and a physical therapy assistant degree.

When you start getting under 500 students, I would think it is difficult to have any type of functioning college. If an elementary school or high school loses enrollment, you can simply reduce the number of teachers at a grade level or go to two English teachers instead of three. At a college, where you're trying to teach multiple disciplines, a major that doesn't attract enough students probably will end up on the chopping block.

[Ship69]

PASSHE average debt I'll also throw in average cost of a Pennsylvania wedding in 2024 was $33,000. One of these expenses is a gateway to significantly better lifetime earnings, the other two don't directly improve your income, and one depreciates in value.

Choosing other options over college isn't showing in other options. College enrollment by percentage for high school graduates is down slightly; headcount is pretty much in line with population changes.

Our schools are losing students because they focus on recruiting high school students whose numbers are rapidly declining. There are PA counties on track to lose 30% of their birth rate in the next 15-20 years.

There are simply fewer students. They certainly could do better in recruiting late learners or offering programs for non-traditional students. Ship is actually starting a program that includes a camp for those interested in construction jobs. But most colleges seem to be in the same boat. I don't think numbers are going back to what used to be considered the norms any time soon.

[TheBigCat2192]

We have tough admissions these days.

1) Can you somehow pay the bill

2) Are you alive

Note: (1) is the most important


The end

Fun story. About a month into my freshman year at BU I got an email asking me to meet with someone at the registrar’s office. I went to the meeting and found out that my high school guidance counseling office had only sent part of my transcripts to BU and it was on me to ask them to send the rest. I never bothered asking why I was accepted without the university seeing my full academic record; I can only assume it was from a mix of SAT score and not bombing the admissions testing.

[Bart]

I've read several stories plus insight from folks I know in the Penn State network. Current senior administration and trustees don't think the 20 campus branch system fits into the Penn State of the future, especially with a fully solvent online degree system. A lot were created before community colleges were a thing - but most are in towns that are no longer economically stable and are in population decline. 12 of 20 have enrollments below 1,000. The 8 larger campuses are nearly all of the total branch enrollment and are in more stable areas. They're safe. The med school in Hershey and the law school in Carlisle are staying put. Penn State oversees Penn College in Williamsport but they operate with much more autonomy. Most of these smaller branches are really glorified community colleges that help facilitate transfer to "Penn State." The larger ones replicate a smaller PASSHE campus with Penn State branding.

They're going to look at population projections and see which campus closures would create a higher ed desert. I bet the closure list gets pared down to 4 or 5. A couple around Pittsburgh plus one of either Shenango or DuBois, then 1 of the 3 south central (Great Valley, Mont Alto, York), then 1 of the 4 eastern: Hazleton (likely), Schuylkill, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre.

FWIW, Pitt needs to do the same. Their 4 branch campuses have total enrollment barely over 4,000. Pitt Johnstown is about 1,800, Greensburg about 1,300, Bradford about 1,000, Titusville is down to less than 50.

I would guess Wilkes Barre closes in the east with an enrollment of only 329 students and several other colleges in the area. Hazleton has some degrees that may keep it alive, like the only branch with alternate energy and power engineering program and a physical therapy assistant degree.

[IUPNation]

UPG is an afterthought even in Greensburg. I had some friends go there and they actually liked it. It's basically 13th grade, which some people like.

Media-wise, Seton Hill gets all the attention. And, by 'all' we aren't talking much.

UPG and Seton Hill are only about 2-3 miles apart.

Seems like a redundancy having two branches barely an hour a part if it’s even that.

[Fightingscot82]

The branch campus thing is such a facade. Attending Pitt Greensburg doesn't get you the same education as attending Pitt in Oakland. Attending Penn State Mont Alto doesn't get you the same education as attending Penn State in State College. The same professors aren't teaching your classes. You don't get to learn from the research faculty who gave Penn State its reputation. In some cases its not even the same sequence of courses. You just get a name brand on your degree. Going to Michigan - Flint isn't the same as going to Michigan - Ann Arbor. Having the degrees stay the same is dishonest.

The branches helped feed PA students to University Park because without it, Penn State's main campus would be majority out of state. Now that they can complete courses online or fully in person, they've outlived their usefulness to capital p Penn State. Also, now they're a financial money loser. The big losses maintaining 20 campuses when less than half break even are unacceptable when University Park is also losing money. They've overbuilt, overhired, and assumed their state money would always increase.

Penn State has 88,000 students and 39,000 employees. Almost 29,000 employees at the main campus alone. PASSHE has 82,000 students and roughly 10,000 employees.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Pitt should merge Greensburg into UPJ.

UPG is an afterthought even in Greensburg. I had some friends go there and they actually liked it. It's basically 13th grade, which some people like.

Media-wise, Seton Hill gets all the attention. And, by 'all' we aren't talking much.

UPG and Seton Hill are only about 2-3 miles apart.

[Fightingscot82]

The average student debt in 2024 was about $38,000. The average new car price in the U.S. was over $45,000. Guess it all adds up to which you consider more worthwhile.

PASSHE average debt I'll also throw in average cost of a Pennsylvania wedding in 2024 was $33,000. One of these expenses is a gateway to significantly better lifetime earnings, the other two don't directly improve your income, and one depreciates in value.

Choosing other options over college isn't showing in other options. College enrollment by percentage for high school graduates is down slightly; headcount is pretty much in line with population changes.

Our schools are losing students because they focus on recruiting high school students whose numbers are rapidly declining. There are PA counties on track to lose 30% of their birth rate in the next 15-20 years.

[IUPNation]

I've read several stories plus insight from folks I know in the Penn State network. Current senior administration and trustees don't think the 20 campus branch system fits into the Penn State of the future, especially with a fully solvent online degree system. A lot were created before community colleges were a thing - but most are in towns that are no longer economically stable and are in population decline. 12 of 20 have enrollments below 1,000. The 8 larger campuses are nearly all of the total branch enrollment and are in more stable areas. They're safe. The med school in Hershey and the law school in Carlisle are staying put. Penn State oversees Penn College in Williamsport but they operate with much more autonomy. Most of these smaller branches are really glorified community colleges that help facilitate transfer to "Penn State." The larger ones replicate a smaller PASSHE campus with Penn State branding.

They're going to look at population projections and see which campus closures would create a higher ed desert. I bet the closure list gets pared down to 4 or 5. A couple around Pittsburgh plus one of either Shenango or DuBois, then 1 of the 3 south central (Great Valley, Mont Alto, York), then 1 of the 4 eastern: Hazleton (likely), Schuylkill, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre.

FWIW, Pitt needs to do the same. Their 4 branch campuses have total enrollment barely over 4,000. Pitt Johnstown is about 1,800, Greensburg about 1,300, Bradford about 1,000, Titusville is down to less than 50.

Pitt should merge Greensburg into UPJ.

[Ship69]

We have tough admissions these days.

1) Can you somehow pay the bill

2) Are you alive

Note: (1) is the most important


The end

The average student debt in 2024 was about $38,000. The average new car price in the U.S. was over $45,000. Guess it all adds up to which you consider more worthwhile.

[Fightingscot82]

Philly Inquirer has a similar story, behind a paywall...

I've read several stories plus insight from folks I know in the Penn State network. Current senior administration and trustees don't think the 20 campus branch system fits into the Penn State of the future, especially with a fully solvent online degree system. A lot were created before community colleges were a thing - but most are in towns that are no longer economically stable and are in population decline. 12 of 20 have enrollments below 1,000. The 8 larger campuses are nearly all of the total branch enrollment and are in more stable areas. They're safe. The med school in Hershey and the law school in Carlisle are staying put. Penn State oversees Penn College in Williamsport but they operate with much more autonomy. Most of these smaller branches are really glorified community colleges that help facilitate transfer to "Penn State." The larger ones replicate a smaller PASSHE campus with Penn State branding.

They're going to look at population projections and see which campus closures would create a higher ed desert. I bet the closure list gets pared down to 4 or 5. A couple around Pittsburgh plus one of either Shenango or DuBois, then 1 of the 3 south central (Great Valley, Mont Alto, York), then 1 of the 4 eastern: Hazleton (likely), Schuylkill, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre.

FWIW, Pitt needs to do the same. Their 4 branch campuses have total enrollment barely over 4,000. Pitt Johnstown is about 1,800, Greensburg about 1,300, Bradford about 1,000, Titusville is down to less than 50.

[WarriorVoice]

Penn State has shared internally that they plan to close 5-7 branch campuses. 12 of 20 have had enrollment decline in the last 5 years.

As I typed that I was waiting for it to leak out, this gets shared with me: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/ed...s/202502250069

Philly Inquirer has a similar story, behind a paywall...

[Fightingscot82]

Penn State has shared internally that they plan to close 5-7 branch campuses. 12 of 20 have had enrollment decline in the last 5 years.

As I typed that I was waiting for it to leak out, this gets shared with me: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/ed...s/202502250069

[Fightingscot82]

We have tough admissions these days.

1) Can you somehow pay the bill

2) Are you alive

Note: (1) is the most important


The end

LOL you think they ask #1? They just let you know how much it costs then send a bill. Buyer's responsibility to piece together the payment method(s).

The real questions are:

1) Were you at least a mediocre high school student?

2) Were in you in regular, non-special ed track classes?

Good, you're accepted.

College admissions is a funny game though. Really nobody is doing anything special to only recruit applications from the best students. Some schools just do a much better job of attracting above average students. Sometimes this is by what sports you offer or what majors you have. But SRU isn't doing anything different in admissions to differentiate their 71% acceptance rate versus IUP's 91% acceptance rate or Penn West's 94% acceptance rate. Theoretically, IUP would accept 100% of applicants if they had 3,000 applicants with a 4.0 and 1,500 SAT.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

What an asshat. These are colleges that are taking 75-80 percent of applicants, as is the mission of a state public university. Nobody of any race or religion with the slightest chance of doing college work is being rejected from PASSHE universities. In taking a wide range of students, they are fulfilling their obligation to the state's young people. He started out at Lehigh Carbon Community College. I'm sure that is a very selective institution. I don't know if there is anything that irritates me more than people who have benefitted from our college and university system and then want to deny those opportunities to others.

We have tough admissions these days.

1) Can you somehow pay the bill

2) Are you alive

Note: (1) is the most important


The end