New-student enrollment grew by 4.4 percent.in this past year.
Enrollment Continues to Grow
The number of first-year and transfer students at Penn State Behrend increased for a fourth consecutive year in 2024, mirroring growth in the college’s academic programs, research expenditures, and campus infrastructure.
New-student enrollment grew by 4.4 percent.
Residential enrollment increased by 1.4 percent, to 3,368 students. Online enrollment in World Campus programs taught by Behrend faculty members increased by 6.4 percent, to 1,018 students.
That growth complemented the expansion of Behrend’s research enterprise, which now includes nearly $10 million in annual expenditures. It bolstered the college’s industry and community engagement, including a planned Center for Manufacturing Competitiveness. It also demonstrated the appeal of innovative academic programs, including new majors in Polymer Engineering and Science and Interdisciplinary Science and Business.
The college also has developed a new bachelor’s degree in Functional Data Analytics, where students build expertise in Big Data.
“We have been strategic and intentional as we develop and enhance new academic programs, expand our research and industry partnerships, and invest in campus infrastructure,” Chancellor Ralph Ford said. “At every step, we weigh the benefits to our students: We bundle the power and prestige of a Penn State degree with a close-to-home campus and a consistent commitment to providing return on investment.”
Center for Family Business News
Jacob Jones, a former business consultant at Gannon University’s Small Business Development Center, was hired to lead the Black School of Business’s Center for Family Business. He will work closely with Dr. Chris Harben, the academic director of the center and the Toudy Chair of Entrepreneurship and Family Business, to develop programming and services that support the center’s members with information and expertise in succession planning, estate planning, social media, management information, and other aspects critical to the success of family-owned businesses in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Tune into Behrend Podcast
Behrend Talks is a podcast featuring a variety of guests talking about topics key to the growth and success of the Erie region and beyond. Hosted by Chancellor Ralph Ford, the talks cover everything from managing inflation to AI and its impact on cybersecurity. Find past episodes at behrendtalks.buzzsprout.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Behrend Recognized for Annual Research, High Alumni Earnings
Penn State Behrend has been awarded two new Carnegie Classifications from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The distinctions recognize the college’s research strengths and the advanced earning potential of Behrend graduates.
The new Research Colleges and Universities designation recognizes institutions with at least $2.5 million in annual research and development expenditures. Behrend generates nearly $10 million in sponsored research every year.
Just 216 institutions earned the Carnegie Classification for research in 2025. At Penn State, only Behrend and Penn State Harrisburg hold the designation.
“Research opportunities are a pillar of Penn State Behrend’s ‘Open Lab’ approach to learning,” Chancellor Ralph Ford said. “For students—particularly undergraduates—a research experience can be a differentiator. In the lab or in the field, they more fully understand the nature of their work, and they see firsthand how they can make a difference.”
The Higher Earnings designation recognizes institutions whose graduates earn highly competitive wages eight years after beginning their undergraduate experience. Just 10 percent of all U.S. colleges and universities hold the classification.
Senior Leadership Changes
Dr. Greg Filbeck, former director of the Black School of Business, was named vice chancellor and associate dean for academic affairs at Behrend, where he has taught since 2006. He will oversee all aspects of the college’s academic portfolio, including academic planning, assessment and evaluation; strategic planning related to academics; shared governance with the college’s faculty; and the development of new academic programs.
Dr. Ozgun Demirag, the Samuel A. and Elizabeth B. Breene Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, is the new director of the Black School of Business. She had served as interim director since July 2023. She holds a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and has previous teaching and research experience at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at Norfolk Southern Inc.
Dr. Cora E. MacBeth ’96, a chemist with twenty years of experience as a faculty member, researcher, and academic administrator at Emory University, has been appointed director of the School of Science. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Behrend in 1996 and holds a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Kansas. Prior to returning to Behrend, she served as associate dean of the Office for Undergraduate Education in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences.
Digital Scholars Gather at Behrend
Penn State Behrend hosted the 2024 Keystone Digital Humanities conference, an annual gathering of institutions and practitioners that promote collaborative scholarship in digital humanities research and pedagogy. The event, which was spearheaded by faculty members in the Digital Media, Arts, and Technology program, brought seventy-five researchers to Behrend for three days of digital play. They experimented with and explored interactive storytelling, generative AI, gaming culture in Iran, and historic textual descriptions of art, among other topics.
Behrend Signs Partnership With India-based Gandhi Institute
A new partnership with the India-based Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) is creating teaching and research opportunities at Penn State Behrend—including “2+2 programs” that enable students at GITAM to complete their undergraduate degrees at Behrend.
Each of Behrend’s four academic schools is developing curricular pathways that can support students from India. The effort supports an Association of American Universities (AAU) task force that is promoting collaboration between U.S. and Indian universities.
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi is one of five co-chairs of the AAU task force. “The benefit, for our students, is really in terms of global enrichment,” said Dr. Greg Filbeck, vice chancellor and associate dean for academic affairs at Behrend. “It’s the ability to travel, to study abroad, and also to benefit their curriculum and their experiences, as they go out to work in what we know is a global economy.”
New Behrend Book Published
A new book by Dr. Joseph M. Beilein Jr., professor of history, chronicles the dramatic transformation of Penn State Behrend from 1980 to 2010. The book, Vision & Resilience, charts the growth of the college under the leadership of former administrators John Lilley and Jack Burke, who defied national trends in higher education and established Behrend as a thriving hub of research and learning in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Facing tensions on campus and broader economic challenges, Lilley and Burke forged partnerships with faculty, students, and the Erie community to boost enrollment, expand facilities, and position Behrend as a destination campus.
“Without John Lilley and the work he did with Jack Burke, Behrend would not be what it is today,” Beilein said. “This really was a watershed moment for the college.” The book, published by Penn State University Press, is available at psupress.org and at Amazon. To learn more, check out Chancellor Ralph Ford’s “Behrend Talks” podcast, which featured an episode about the book. You can listen at behrendtalks.buzzsprout.com.
YEO Goes Mobile
Youth Education Outreach (YEO) is hitting the road in style thanks to a brand-new van that will expand the team’s ability to deliver hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) programming to K-12 students across the region.
The van, made possible through donations from private donors and local companies, expands YEO’s ability to transport supplies and provide programming off-site. Previously, staff were limited to what they could fit into their personal vehicles, often restricting the scale of their activities. The new van removes those constraints, allowing YEO to pack the van with plenty of interactive fun.
“The van allows us to bring Penn State Behrend to youth and meet them where they are,” said Melanie Ford, director of YEO at Behrend. “We’re grateful to the donors who made the purchase of the van possible. This investment in our youth will have a lasting impact on our community.”