ALTOONA, Pa.—As Penn State Altoona welcomes approximately 1,211 first-year students to campus this academic year, it will mark its eightieth anniversary on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019.
From noon–3:00 p.m., a community ice cream social will take place at the Laurel Pavilion on campus with beverages, music, lawn games, and a scavenger hunt.
Penn State Altoona’s roots go back to September 13, 1939, when the Altoona Undergraduate Center opened in the Webster Grade School Building in downtown Altoona. The first-year class of 119 students was taught by nine faculty members. In 1947, Ivyside Park, an abandoned 38-acre amusement park on the outskirts of the city, was purchased for a new campus, which opened the following year with approximately 600 students and 30 faculty members.
On July 1, 1997, the Penn State Altoona Campus became Penn State Altoona, a four-year baccalaureate degree-granting college of the University. It now offers 22 degrees plus the first two years of 275+ degrees that may be completed at another Penn State campuses.
Please join us as we celebrate 80 years of commitment to education and our community.
