Unit Overview
The Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses (OVPCC) oversees Penn State's 20 Commonwealth Campuses, which include 6 academic colleges and the Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies. Commonwealth Campuses complement other missions and strategic directions of the University. The office is also the academic home of the University College which is comprised of 14 of the 19 Commonwealth Campuses.
The Commonwealth Campuses enroll approximately 25,000 students in associate, baccalaureate, and graduate resident degree programs, in addition to 5,000 students enrolled in 20 degree programs delivered through the University’s World Campus. Full-time employees include 1,617 faculty and 1,833 staff and administrators. The Commonwealth Campuses confer about 30 percent of the University’s resident degrees and administer or participate in $41.6 million in sponsored awards.
Nearly 50 percent of first-year students begin their Penn State experience at a Commonwealth Campus, and while many students complete their degree at one campus for all four years, students can complete the first two years of more than 275 majors at a Commonwealth Campus through the University’s 2+2 plan before transitioning to another Commonwealth Campus or University Park to complete their degree.
The Commonwealth Campuses provide a portal to the University – nearly 45 percent of all first-year baccalaureate students start at a Commonwealth Campus; 50 percent of the University’s PA first-year students, (associate and baccalaureate), begin at a Commonwealth Campus. Nearly 1,200 students transfer to Commonwealth Campuses from other colleges and universities; mainly from Pennsylvania Community Colleges and other Pennsylvania institutions.
All 20 campuses have been awarded Invent Penn State seed grants to fuel economic development and entrepreneurship in their surrounding communities. Notably, Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses contribute nearly $1.23B annually to the state’s economy. The current book value of endowments is $299M, with a current market value of $529M. This produces annual income of $19M, with $13.5M awarded annually to Commonwealth Campus students. The campuses have active and engaged alumni, with 21 Campus Societies and 200+ alumni volunteers serving more than 468,000 alumni who attended a CC; 275,000 of whom graduated from a Commonwealth Campus. There are more than 1,000 volunteer advisers.