Legislators, advocates make case to keep Penn State Scranton open
They gathered at Penn State Scranton to make that case to keep the campus, located in Dunmore, open.
The session followed Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi's late February announcement that 12 of the university's 19 satellite campuses — including Scranton and three others in Northeast Pennsylvania named Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Schuylkill, respectively — are under review for possible closure at the end of the 2026-27 academic year. A group co-led by university administrators will make a final recommendation on campus closures to Bendapudi by the end of the spring semester, and Bendapudi will make the final decision.
Against that backdrop, a panel of officials that included Democratic state Sen. Marty Flynn, Democratic state Reps. Jim Haddock, Kyle Donahue and Kyle Mullins, Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President Bob Durkin, Scranton School District Superintendent Erin Keating, Ed.D., and Dunmore Superintendent John Marichak spoke Thursday to the myriad ways the Scranton campus benefits the region and its students. For many of those students, including nontraditional students and those without access to transportation or a wealth of financial resources, a closure 'would mean the end of their education,' Flynn said.
'They also spoke about how much they value being part of a campus that reflects their own community, going to class with people they know, people from their hometowns, that sense of belonging,' he continued. 'A connection is something that can't be replaced or replicated miles away.'
State Rep. Jim Haddock speaks with a panel of legislators, including state Rep. Kyle Donahue, Sen. Marty Flynn, and state Rep. Kyle Mullins during a public forum concerning the possible closure of Penn State Scranton in Dunmore Thursday, May 1, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Many who spoke echoed those or similar sentiments, touting Penn State Scranton as an indispensable resource.
Durkin and other chamber officials described the school as a vital partner providing educations that prepare students to fill high-priority jobs in the region, bolstering a talent pipeline critical to economic growth and development. Penn State Scranton leaders, faculty and staff also actively participate in regional economic development efforts, support the chamber's entrepreneurship program, open doors for internships at member businesses and expand professional development opportunities, the chamber stressed in a recent letter to Bendepudi.
Keating and Marichak said losing the institution would negatively impact students in both districts directly, including by reducing dual enrollment opportunities allowing high school students to earn college credits and educational opportunities more broadly.
'I represent a low-income school district,' Keating said, noting nearly 80% of the Scranton School District's roughly 9,300 students are economically disadvantaged. 'They don't have the means or the opportunity to leave the area to receive a post-secondary degree that's recognized for global excellence, and Penn State is. It gives my kids an opportunity to be able to have that access.'
'Those low-income children, those children who come from economically disadvantaged homes, deserve that opportunity,' she continued. 'Closing this campus takes an opportunity like that away.'
Penn State's Regional Chancellor Elizabeth J. Wright speaks during a community meeting held at Penn State Scranton in Dunmore Thursday. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Elizabeth Wright, Ph.D., regional chancellor for Penn State's Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton campuses, said 41% of students at the Scranton branch are 'Pell eligible,' meaning they're among those the federal government classifies as having the highest financial needs, and about 45% are the firsts in their families to attend college.
'And within that context we think daily about how we support students and their families as they seek to attain their educational goal,' she said. 'And indeed our goal is to help families that may be thinking that college is out of reach to transition to a moment when they say to themselves that college is within reach.'
Several students and alumni who attended Thursday's event also shared personal anecdotes about how Penn State Scranton helped them academically, professionally and personally.
President of the student government at Penn State Scranton Gavan Quimby voices concerns during a community meeting held at the campus Study Learning Center in Dunmore Thursday, May 1, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
But their testimonies come as Penn State and other colleges and universities face a number of headwinds, including declining enrollment.
Bendepudi has attributed the 'difficult choices' the university now faces regarding the future of its satellite campuses to declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures. At the 12 campuses unprotected from closing, enrollment has dropped 39% in a decade, officials said earlier this year.
Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed budget includes $242.1 million in general support funding for Penn State, the same allocation the university received for the past several years and $30 million less than it requested. But while that general support funding remains flat, Shapiro also proposes $60 million in new performance-based funding for Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh and Temple University, money that would be distributed to those institutions based on the recommendations of a Performance-based Funding Council established last year.
Haddock referenced the performance-based funding proposed for those state-related universities, noting Penn State officials he spoke with were 'thrilled' by the proposal. But he also took aim at Republican state lawmakers who've opposed and blocked past efforts to increase funding for Penn State, increases Haddock said local Democratic lawmakers reliably supported.
'We have all voted, this Lackawanna County delegation, we have voted for the funding of Penn State and we all voted for increased funding of Penn State, but unfortunately the votes didn't come from the other side of the aisle,' Haddock said in calling for the Scranton campus to remain open. 'So my message to Penn State is this: support the politicians that supported you. … It's ironic when I see my cohorts in the House of Representatives having roundtables like this, public forums, say 'don't cut Penn State in my district. It's jobs, it's this, it's that.' But they won't vote to fund Penn State and they forget about our students and they forget about the jobs until they're at risk. Sometimes the truth has to be spoken.'
Haddock, Flynn, Mullins and Donahue all said either during or after Thursday's session that they'd reconsider their support for future state funding increases should Penn State close the Scranton campus.
Their collective focus now is on making a strong case to keep it open.
'We're not here today to attack anyone,' Flynn said. 'We're here to advocate, to unite, to make it clear Penn State Scranton matters. It matters to that student who's trying to balance a part-time job and classes. It matters to the parent hoping that their child can get a degree without going into extreme, massive debt. It matters to the families who can't afford out-of-town tuition or the burden of a long-distance travel. It matters to the local businesses who rely on campuses to train their workforce.'
'So let me say this clearly,' he continued. 'Closing this campus would be devastating, not just in Dunmore or Lackawanna County, but to all of Northeastern Pennsylvania.'
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