The gap between Penn State University’s sprawling main campus and its 20 branches can be measured these days in ways more personal and profound than highway miles.
Stung by double-digit enrollment losses, the branch campuses and their students are about to lose 10% of their faculty and staff to buyouts starting this month. Those employees helped bring a flagship public education at less-than-main-campus prices to locales in or around New Kensington, McKeesport, Uniontown, Monaca and Shenango in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
But University Park appears to be on a different trajectory.
