Penn State University has announced that it will need to close some of its campuses with Penn State Shenango possibly on the chopping block.

A memo sent out by the university highlights the challenges the university is currently facing like declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures.

The memo states that while these issues are not unique to Penn State, it would still require them to make the difficult decision to close some of its campuses.

While no specific campuses have been identified for closure yet, Penn State did put out a list of seven campuses that were not under threat of closures with Penn State Shenango not being named on that list.

The campuses that will not be affected by the closures are:

- Arlington

- Altoona

- Behrend

- Berks

- Brandywine

- Harrisburg

- Lehigh Valley

The Great Valley graduate education-focused campus will also not be affected.

Should Penn State Shenango be among those closures, the memo states that no campus will close until after the 2026-27 academic year.

This means students enrolling in the fall 2025 semester will still have the opportunity to complete their associates degrees and 2+2 bachelor's degree students will have enough time to reach the point where they would transition to another campus.

Mercer County Commissioner Bill Finley told 21 News he isn't going to raise too much concern until a closure is officially announced, but said he absolutely wants to keep the Shenango campus open and he is willing to work with the campus in order to allow for it to stay open.

County Commissioner Tim McGonigle also gave us the following statement:

"Penn State Shenango has been educating students here in Mercer County for 58 years and has provided so many with a world class education, especially our adults seeking a new career path. As a member of the Penn State Advisory board, I’m still hopeful that we will survive these pending closure announcements. Both myself and my children have benefited greatly from having Penn State Shenango in our community."

"We will always believe our Campus strengthens us as a community in several ways including economically, educationally, and culturally. Our campus offers more than 20% of the branch campus’s Associate Degree’s, and that is an area the University wants to strengthen throughout the branch campus’s system."