Penn State's 2 law school campuses planning to operate separately

Pennsylvania State University's two law school campuses - one at State College and the other in Carlisle - are pursuing plans to operate as separately accredited campuses by 2015.

The move comes after opposition from Gov. Corbett and the Cumberland County commissioners to Penn State's original plan to discontinue offering its first-year program at the Carlisle campus and focus there on upper-level classes and international programs, according to Philip J. McConnaughay, dean of the law school. The first-year program would have continued to be offered at the main campus.

"It looks pretty clear we won't get the permission we need to succeed," McConnaughay said.

The proposed changes are being fueled by national trends, including a downturn in applications to law schools and a decline in the market for legal services. As a result, the university decided to reduce enrollment in its first-year program by 150 students to less than 500, he said.

That means the university will lose about $6 million in tuition revenue on top of an existing annual operating deficit of about $5 million, which the university has subsidized.

Penn State completed a merger with the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle in 2000 and in 2009 opened a $60 million law school on Penn State's main campus. In 2008, the university received a $25 million state grant via the Cumberland County Redevelopment Authority to upgrade the Carlisle campus with the caveat that first-, second- and third-year programs would remain in Carlisle through 2025.

"We wanted to be released from the requirement," McConnaughay said.

Corbett's office on Tuesday acknowledged its opposition and said it had just heard about the new plan.

"We're examining that proposal to see if it honors the previous agreement," said spokeswoman Janet Kelley.

Under the new plan, both campuses would continue to operate under Penn State but with different deans and administrations, McConnaughay said. He would oversee the State College school.

All current students will graduate from the unified law school, he said. After 2015, students would get degrees from either Penn State Dickinson in Carlisle or Penn State Dickinson in State College. The plan is subject to approval by the American Bar Association.

The new configuration will be much like Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark, McConnaughay said.

"This will allow the schools to pursue different missions," he said.

The law school is negotiating agreements with top law schools in China, Brazil, and the Middle East for the training of foreign lawyers.