Penn State University will close its public broadcasting station, WPSU, in June 2026 due to financial challenges, The Centre Daily Times reported. That makes it one of the first university-affiliated stations to close after federal funding cuts to public media.
WPSU is an NPR and PBS affiliate that serves central Pennsylvania and is funded by a mix of institutional, federal and private dollars. The TV station reaches 515,000 households and the FM station has an additional 450,000 listeners across the state, according to its website.
In a typical year, Penn State allocates $3.4 million to the station. But pressures on the university budget from inflation, enrollment challenges and state funding reductions pushed administrators to re-evaluate the station’s funding model. In June, PSU cut WPSU funding by $800,000, or about 9 percent of the station’s budget, resulting in some layoffs, news director Emily Reddy told Inside Higher Ed in August.
In July, Congress rescinded $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes dollars to NPR, PBS and their member stations. More than half of NPR’s 1,000 member stations are affiliated with a college or university. The CPB cuts slashed WPSU’s revenue by a further $1.3 million.
Penn State was considering a transfer of ownership to WHYY, a Philadelphia-based public station. On Sept. 11, the Board of Trustees ultimately voted against the move because the deal offered no guarantees WHYY would maintain WPSU staff, despite a five-year, $17 million financial commitment from the university.
“Given the significant headwinds facing higher education and public media, we could not support the proposed transaction,” board chair David Kleppinger said in a press release.
WPSU employs 44 full-time staff and hires a handful of student interns from Penn State each year. The station expects to lay off staff again in light of the news.
At the station, the news team was surprised to learn of the board’s decision; many were unaware a deal with WHYY was even being considered, Reddy told Inside Higher Ed.
“We’re hearing a tremendous amount of support from community members, former interns and fellow journalists, and that makes us hopeful that the board might reconsider its decision or that we might find some other solution,” Reddy said, particularly because the station supports what would otherwise be known as a news desert.
Penn State’s board has also discussed closing seven of its 19 Commonwealth Campuses due to enrollment declines. This paragraph has been updated to correct the number of campuses that the system may close.
