Penn State University will close a number of its satellite campuses in the coming years, citing a decrease in enrollment and the need for long-term sustainability at its main campus and branches, officials said Tuesday. President Neeli Bendapudi, who has led the university since 2022, explained the looming changes to the school's Commonwealth Campus system in a letter to the university community. MORE: For third straight year, Parks & Rec is offering $1,000 bonuses to recruit lifeguards "We cannot continue with business as usual," Bendapudi said. "The challenges we face — declining enrollments, demographic shifts and financial pressures — are not unique to Penn State, but they require us to make difficult choice." The Commonwealth Campus system includes 19 branches that serve nearly 24,000 students enrolled in Penn State degree programs. Bendapudi said the university's seven largest branches — including three in the Philadelphia area — will not be subject to closures. Penn State's Abington campus in Montgomery County, the Brandywine campus in Delaware County and the graduate education-focused Great Valley campus in Chester County will not be affected. Penn State's Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Harrisburg and Lehigh Valley campuses also will be spared from closure, the university said. Penn State Dickinson Law, the College of Medicine and the Pennsylvania College of Technology — all considered special-mission campuses — will also remain open. The seven largest Penn State branches account for nearly 75% of Commonwealth Campus enrollments and 67% of the system's faculty and staff. "They are positioned for long-term sustainability based on current and projected enrollment, institutional performance, and locations within regions that are stable or growing in population," Bendapudi said. The university did not name any of the 12 other campuses that could be subject to closures. A university committee has been formed to evaluate the outlook at these branches and make recommendations about which of them should be shut down. None of Penn State's branches will be closed before the end of the 2026-27 academic year. The timeline will allow students who enrolled in associate degree programs this year to finish, the university said, and it will give bachelor's degree students enough time to transfer to other branches. Faculty and staff at closing branches will be given opportunities for reassignment elsewhere or offered career transition assistance. Bendapudi said many of Penn State's branches are in areas where populations are expected to decline in the coming decades. Since these branches historically have drawn most of their enrollment from surrounding communities, the university does not see national or international recruitment as a viable path to sustain them. The university is expected to provide data in the coming days that will explain some of the enrollment, demographic and financial challenges that led to the decision to close branches. Bendapudi expects to receive recommendations on closures by the end of the spring semester and will announce closing branches before commencement in May, she said. Penn State's main campus in State College had a total enrollment of more than 49,000 undergraduate and graduate students as of the fall 2023 semester, according to U.S. News & World Report. The university said Tuesday that aggregate demand for a Penn State education is "at an all-time high," but branch closures are necessary to keep the Commonwealth Campus system on solid ground. "This is about strengthening Penn State's Commonwealth Campus ecosystem so that it can continue to thrive, in a form that aligns with today's realities," Bendapudi said.