Penn State President Gets Huge Raise Amid Impending Campus Closures

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — Although numerous Penn State branch campuses are going to close in the near future, president President Neeli Bendapudi’s salary is about to significantly increase.

The university's board of trustees recently voted to increase her base annual salary from $950,000 to $1.4 million.

Her pension will rise from $250,000 to $525,000. Her deferred compensation will jump from $550,000 to $650,000.

Bendapudi will receive an automatic 3.5 percent salary increase each year of the contract.

The contract boosts, which run through 2032, come as Penn State recently announced plans to shutter the Dubois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York campuses. They are among the dozen of the 20 branch campuses that initially were studied for closure along with Beaver, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Schuykill and Scranton.

Penn State trustees in May voted to close the seven branch campuses after the spring of the 2026-27 academic year. The board voted after a months-long study by administrators on which branches should be shuttered.

The university will continue to operate 13 branch campuses.

Collectively, the campuses slated for closure represent 3.6 percent of Penn State students, 3.4 percent of the university's faculty and 2.2 percent of its total staff.

Board chairman David Kleppinger defended the large raise for Bendapudi.

“President Bendapudi has led the University to a balanced budget and more than $560 million through philanthropic commitments, while also continuing to strengthen the Penn State research enterprise and advance Penn State Health — all with a laser-sharp focus on the core academic mission of Penn State,” he said in a statement.

“Overseeing such a vast academic, research, health and athletics enterprise through these changes has been no easy task — particularly with all of the challenges facing higher education as a whole — but her leadership is instrumental in positioning Penn State for future success and growth."

In February, Bendapudi said in a statement: "We must make hard decisions now to ensure Penn State’s future remains strong,. "It has become clear that we cannot sustain a viable Commonwealth Campus ecosystem without closing some campuses."