Academic Excellence

Penn State is dedicated to creating transformative experiences — in and out of the classroom — for every student. Preparing students for a lifetime of professional and personal success is the core of our academic mission.

At Penn State, student success drives our vision and mission, and we aspire to deliver high-impact education that exceeds student expectations. As a cornerstone of President Neeli Bendapudi’s goal to drive student success, we are dedicated to creating innovative, transformative experiences for all students across our campuses.

In a changing landscape, we are evolving to continue to serve our students by:

Creating a sustainable model for higher education that upholds our longstanding commitment to access, affordability, and reducing costs for students and families.
Offering programs that align with evolving workforce and career needs of students, the commonwealth and society.
Enhancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging across our campuses.
Investing in the student experience through academic, career, extracurricular, research, global and other engagement opportunities.
Prioritizing graduate education and the critical roles graduate students play in research and undergraduate teaching and to support graduate students as they build their careers.
Graduating highly employable students who not only have real-world internship and career experiences, but the soft skills that equip them to compete in a global context as civic-minded, well-rounded thinkers and leaders.

To continue to deliver a world-class education that meets students’ changing expectations and preferences, Penn State is investing in making successful programs even stronger; new programs to increase overall enrollment; and academic and support resources that fuel the student experience.

Academic and administrative leaders, faculty, staff and students are engaging in collaborative efforts to:

Conduct a University-wide Academic Portfolio and Program Review (APPR) across all campuses in collaboration with academic leaders, faculty, staff and student partners. The review will help the University align academic offerings across locations with student and market demand; create stable enrollments; foster strategic growth; and connect academic offerings with the University’s research enterprise, mission and goals. This effort will evolve based on learnings and feedback from faculty, staff and students. The University community can learn more about the APPR process and timeline here.
Build a “one stop resource hub” to offer students at every campus a single, custom support pathway to the most common student services. The hub, envisioned by students, will streamline access to academic support, mental health, well-being, basic needs, career, and cultural and advocacy services. Beta testing of the online virtual assistant for students is taking place this fall.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Penn State completing an Academic Portfolio and Program Review?

The goal is to emerge from the APPR as a university that remains student-centric with a comprehensive and cohesive academic portfolio that meets our educational mission sustainably and aligns with our research strengths and priorities. Penn State is beginning this process to make sure that the University is offering the right mix of residential, online and blended programs — where demand exists — that align with the University’s mission and that address the preferences and needs of students, society, and employers locally, regionally and nationally.

Who will be participating in the Academic Portfolio and Program Review?

Academic leaders, faculty, staff and students will be partners in the APPR effort, serving as members of the steering committee and project teams, and through opportunities to provide guidance and input. The executive sponsors have built a core project team that includes faculty, staff and students from across the University, and are currently building out additional project teams with individuals from across Penn State to participate in this process. Members of Faculty Senate will be engaged throughout this work, along with the Senate Council, faculty advisory committee chairs, and caucuses. Faculty members across Penn State’s campuses who are not part of Faculty Senate also will be involved, as will representatives from Student Affairs and other critical areas.

How can Penn State community members share their ideas and feedback about the Academic Portfolio and Program Review?

The University is at the beginning of this effort and will be seeking participation and engagement from individuals across our campuses to shape and build this process. To engage members of the Penn State community in the process, the APPR team conducted an open call for nominations in February to seek students, faculty and staff members to participate in the emerging working groups. More than 480 nominations were received. The APPR Steering Committee is reviewing nominations and will be reaching out to candidates who are selected to participate on a particular team. The teams will start working this summer on various aspects of process, data needs and collection, communication, and engagement, in addition to working closely with the external partner. Additional opportunities for community-wide engagement such as discussion sessions and confidential mechanisms for individuals to share input are being planned. Questions and feedback can be sent to APPR@psu.edu.

Will there be changes to academic programs?

The outcomes of this process will likely include recommendations to leave programs unimpacted, create new programs, make changes to existing programs and to eliminate programs, among other options. However, until this process is further along, it is too early to say whether or how specific academic programs will be impacted.

What is the timeline for the Academic Portfolio and Program Review?

In spring 2024, close to 500 nominations/self-nominations were submitted for the project teams. Based on this information, the steering committee is finalizing the project teams that will start working on various aspects of process, data needs and collection, communication, and engagement. One of the groups will be selecting an external partner who will assist in gathering data and identifying opportunities and important factors to consider when making decisions.

The APPR team sent out the RFP at the beginning of May and is beginning the process of selecting an external partner, which typically takes approximately 60 days. The partner will be named this summer. The team anticipates the partner will begin work by the end of July, data collection will take place through the fall, recommendations from the partner will be submitted by the end of fall semester, and validation/decision making will begin at Penn State in spring semester 2025. This is a high-level schedule and is subject to change by the APPR group or leadership team. Any changes will be shared with the Penn State community. More information about the project timeline is available here.

What is the role of the external partner? Who will have decision-making authority?

The external partner will work with the APPR teams to conduct data gathering to aid in strategic decision making, conduct the portfolio review with suggestions for further analysis, and produce a suggested on-going academic program and portfolio review process. They will leverage their expertise in data collection and academic portfolio reviews in conducting the analysis. The partner will make recommendations to Penn State based on a thoughtful analysis, but they will not make decisions. The external partner will not have any decision-making responsibility or authority.  

President Neeli Bendapudi has clarified that Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Tracy Langkilde, as Penn State’s chief academic officer, and the future permanent provost will determine the best path forward after meaningfully collaborating with three key groups: 1) the deans and chancellors of the academic units across Penn State, 2) the APPR initiative members, and 3) the University Faculty Senate.