MONT ALTO – With Penn State Mont Alto named as one of Penn State University’s seven branch campuses slated for closure in early 2027, local business people are questioning what the impact will be on the economy.
Franklin County Area Development Corp. President L. Michael Ross penned a three-page letter to Penn State leadership in March to highlight what he called “the vital role” of the campus, which serves more than 600 students and employs 90 people.
Ross’ letter cites the forest technology and allied health programs being tailored to regional and national needs. It continues with statistics about the student body’s diversity, workforce development needs and growth along the Interstate 81 corridor.
“Mont Alto’s legacy with Penn State spans nearly a century, beginning with its forestry program and evolving into a comprehensive institution that meets pressing workforce and educational needs,” he wrote.
Ross later spoke to the Penn State University Board of Trustees saying, in part: “Reconciling the image of what is meant to be a world-class educational institution with the way this decision-making process has unfolded has been profoundly disheartening. For a university that awards degrees in Communication, Community & Economic Development and Political Science, the absence of transparent communication, the apparent lack of any substantive analysis of campus-level socio-economic impacts, and the premature disclosure of the decision – prior to a formal vote by the Board of Trustees – are, quite frankly, indefensible.”
Realtor Stacy Mellott is concerned about impacts to the housing market, particularly with the potential of an exodus in the coming two years.
“There are two key pieces to this: There are the ones (on staff or faculty) who own their home and need to decide whether to sell. There are students who live on campus or nearby and rent,” she said.
Mellott said homeowners may be watching the market to decide whether to sell now or wait for favorable trends. While first-quarter data shows an increase in sales prices, homes are staying on the market for 25 percent longer than a year earlier.
“They need to understand your home will sell, but it will take longer to be under contract,” she said.
Penn State Mont Alto has a long history of training foresters who work throughout the country. Its arboretum has more than 1,000 trees and abuts both Mont Alto State Park and Michaux State Forest. Penn State Mont Alto manages hundreds of acres in the Waynesboro watershed.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1937 conveyed the existing forestry school to what was then Pennsylvania State College. The end of the legislation stipulates that the lands and buildings shall revert to the Commonwealth if forestry education ends on the site.
Bartlett Tree Experts President and COO James Ingram is a Penn State Mont Alto graduate who employs 3,200 people in 42 states, the United Kingdom and Canada.
“Some of my best managers have come from Mont Alto’s forestry program,” he said, noting President Teddy Roosevelt himself chose campus graduates to become the first foresters in national parks.
Ingram described how the Penn State Mont Alto arboretum has some of the country’s oldest trees, which are part of ongoing genetic research. The campus is the meeting point for southern tree species and northern tree species.
Forestry students learn about tolerance to diseases and pests, conservation, fire prevention, climate change and how to care for trees whether they are in a recreation setting or aesthetic setting in a streetscape.
“We have all kinds of research there, and no one wanted to listen,” Ingram said. “There was a reason it was chosen at the turn of the century and why it works today.”
Mellott, a Penn State alumnus herself, has thought about the difficulties associated with the redevelopment of Scotland School for Veterans Children after the Greene Township campus closed in 2009.
“It’s going to be a shame to see the beautiful (Mont Alto) campus and the area around it go by the wayside,” she said, describing the idea of seeing it vacant as eerie.
Mellott is hopeful a suitable re-use can be found.
“Time will tell what happens next,” she said.
