Skip to main content
Penn State Altoona
Report a Concern Give Visit Apply
  • Academics
    • Majors
    • Academic Calendar
    • Research and Engagement
    • Eiche Library
    • Registrar
    • Academic Advising
    • Honors Program
    • Out-of-Class Learning
    • New Student Orientation
    • Commencement
  • Admissions & Financial Aid
    • Visit Us
    • Admissions Overview
    • Information for First-Year Students
    • How to Apply
    • Accepted Students
    • Find Your Admissions Counselor
    • Tuition and Financial Aid Resources
    • Financial Aid Basics
    • Tuition and Costs
  • Student Success
    • Student Success Center
    • The Help Tool
    • Tutoring
    • Student Affairs
    • Student and Civic Engagement
    • Health and Wellness
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
    • Safety at Penn State Altoona
    • Career Services
    • Eiche Library
  • Information For
    • Prospective Students
    • Transfer Students
    • Current Students
    • International Students
    • High School Dual Enrollment Program
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Alumni
    • Parents & Families
    • Professional Development
    • Visitors
Full site navigation menu

This dialog contains the full navigation menu for this site.

Penn State Altoona
Enter the terms you wish to search for.
Search type:
Report a Concern Give Visit Apply
  • This is Penn State Altoona
    • Welcome from the Chancellor
    • Penn State Altoona At a Glance
    • Mission, Vision, and Values
    • College Leadership
    • Our History
    • Campus Map
    • Current Weather Conditions
    • Livestream
  • Academics
    • Majors
    • Academic Calendar
    • Out-of-class Learning
    • Eiche Library
    • Registrar
    • Academic Advising
    • Honors Program
    • Campus Closures
  • Admissions
    • Visit Us
    • Information for First-Year Students
    • How to Apply
    • Accepted Students
    • Find Your Admissions Counselor
    • Experience Altoona
    • Virtual Tour
  • Tuition and Financial Aid
    • Scholarships and Awards
    • Grants
    • Loans
    • Work-study
    • Financial Aid Basics
    • Tuition and Costs
    • Financial Aid Information
  • Student Success
    • Student Success Center
    • The Help Tool
    • Tutoring
    • Student Affairs
    • Student Leadership and Involvement
    • Health and Wellness Center
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
    • Internships
    • Safety at Penn State Altoona
    • Study Abroad/Study Away
  • Research and Engagement
    • Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry
    • Faculty Research Resources
    • Internal Grants and Awards
  • Athletics
    • Schedule
    • Facilities
    • Recreation and Club Sports
    • Staff and Coaches Directory
    • Athletic Training and Sports Physicals
    • Athletics News
    • Camps and Clinics
    • Hall of Fame

Find Information For:

  • Prospective Students
  • Transfer Students
  • Current Students
  • International Students
  • High School Dual Enrollment Program
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni
  • Parents & Families
  • Professional Development
  • Visitors

Helpful Links

  • Campus Map
  • Academic Calendar
  • Campus Calendar
  • Community Calendar
  • Student Success Center
  • The Help Tool
  • Faculty & Staff Directory
  • Offices and Divisions
  • Employment Opportunities

Connect With Us

  • facebook
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • linkedin
  • tiktok
  1. Home
  2. Student Success
Students and tutors interacting at the Student Success Center

Student Success Center

Student Success Center Logo

Engagement is the key to student success. Penn State Altoona’s Student Success Center enables student engagement across our campus and in the broader community. The Center helps remove the burdens and barriers that disable engagement and more efficiently connect students with tools and services to become proactive learners and citizens of the world.

Get Help. Get Ahead.

Located in room 125 on the first floor of the Eiche Library, the Student Success Center supports two main functions:

  • To GET HELP for those students who need academic and non-academic assistance, and
  • To GET AHEAD for those students ready to take the next steps in their education.

Contact Us

Contact the Student Success Center at [email protected] or 814-940-3343.

Student Success Center Resources

Select an option from the list below to view information about Student Success Center resources.

Academic Advising Logo

Academic advisers aim to help students make informed decisions and shape meaningful educational opportunities, enabling their success while at Penn State.

LEARN ABOUT ACADEMIC ADVISING VISIT STARFISH

Tutoring Logo

Drop-in tutoring is available through the Center. Tutoring is handled primarily by professional tutors or by instructors from the discipline. Peer tutoring is also available for certain subjects. Peer tutors are students who have aced the class you seek help with and have received tutor training.

LEARN ABOUT TUTORING

Writing Commons Logo

Penn State Altoona’s Writing Commons, located in room 127 of the Eiche Library, helps students in all disciplines become more effective, more confident writers. Supportive, trained undergraduate peer Writing Consultants will work one-on-one with students at all levels, in all disciplines, and at any stage in the writing process.

LEARN ABOUT THE WRITING COMMONS BOOK A WRITING CONSULTATION ON STARFISH

Student Disability Resources Logo

The Student Disability Resources office provides students with disability accommodations to improve access to learning and minimize the effects of any functional limitations. Accommodations are based on individual needs and can include but are not limited to extended testing time, a reduced-distraction environment for testing, and the ability to record audio lectures.

LEARN ABOUT STUDENT DISABILITY RESOURCES

Academic Internships Logo

Internships are vitally important for today’s college students. Nine out of ten employers indicate that they are more likely to hire a recent college graduate if they have had a successful internship; more than 40 percent of new college hires come directly from an employer’s internship pool.

Practically and legally, internships differ from employment by emphasizing student learning. An academic internship is a partnership between the college and an employer (or “host site”) that ensures that the internship is guided by the employer’s expectation of productive work and by the college’s expectation of meaningful, applied learning. Through this partnership arrangement, the college promotes and protects the student’s interests as a student while facilitating professional work experience.

Learn More about Internships

Study Away Logo

The Office of Study Away at Penn State Altoona supports all interested students, regardless of major, who want to spend a spring break, a semester, or a full academic year away from campus on an academic program in a different part of the country or world.

The Study Away office assists students in selecting appropriate study away programs, understanding the financial implications of studying away, and explaining the credit process. Students interested in studying away for spring break, a semester, or a year may choose from Penn State Altoona-sponsored programs or from over three hundred Penn State Global Programs.

Learn More About Study Away/Study Abroad

Lion Guidez Logo

Lion Guidez is a peer mentoring program that trains student leaders to help students navigate their experience at Penn State Altoona. Lion Guidez connect with incoming students before the start of the semester during the Welcome Week programming and on the Connect newsfeed. During the academic year, you can find them staffing the Student Success Center Welcome Desk, offering general advice for college best practices, encouragement, and resources. Visit us at the Student Success Center.

a cartoon graphic of the nittany lion wearing a backpack. The text reads Student Success Center: Peer Advocacy

Penn State Altoona's Health and Wellness Center and the college's human development and family studies degree program offer a peer advocacy program for students. Trained students will serve as peer advocates to offer a supportive listening environment with drop-in hours.

Students can attend to discuss concerns about stress, relationships, the future, courses, feelings of being overwhelmed, or to talk. For more information, contact Heidi Manfred at [email protected].

Spring 2025 Hours

All sessions are held in room 128 of the Eiche Library.

Mondays

  • KJ from 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuesdays

  • Destiny from noon–2:00 p.m.
  • Briley from 2:30–4:30 p.m.

Wednesdays

  • Luke from 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
  • Mary from 3:00–5:00 p.m.

Thursdays

  • Maddy from noon–2:00 p.m.
  • Mike from 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Fridays

  • Jen from noon–2:00 p.m.
  • Anthony from 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Undergraduates in need of school supplies now have access to free items through the Penn State Chaiken Center for Student Success’s new School Supplies for Student Success program.

Located in the Student Success Center, 125 Eiche Library, the program offers a wide range of essential supplies—including notebooks, writing utensils, headphones, and more—to help students stay on track academically. Students may visit once every two weeks to pick up what they need during business hours, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

School Supplies for Student Success received its initial funding from the Barnes & Noble College Grant Program and continues to grow through donations from the Penn State community.

Check out our Amazon wishlist

Explore the topics in our Help Tool to find information and answers to frequently asked questions.

LEARN ABOUT THE HELP TOOL

In addition to the resources listed here, the Student Success Center connects students with other offices to provide support and opportunities, including the following:

  • Financial Aid
  • Career Services
  • Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry

Student Success

  • Student Success Center
  • Student Success Center Faculty and Staff
  • Office Directory
  • The Help Tool
    • Help Tool Feedback Form
    • Add the Help Tool to Canvas
  • Any Questions?

Student Success Center

125 Eiche Library
[email protected]
814-940-3343

Art for Wellness

Mondays from 5:00–7:00 p.m.
Come with a group of friends or by yourself for some creative artmaking to help calm stress, practice mindfulness, or just have fun. Art for Wellness is sponsored by the Health and Wellness Center. All sessions take place in the Student Success Center, 125 Eiche Library.

No One Journeys Alone

Tuesdays from 5:30–6:30 p.m.
It seems like in our fast-paced culture, the assumption is that grief can be dealt with quickly. However, we know that this is not true. Grief is an ongoing process. We need a space that honors our grief and where we can journey together as we share our hearts. Anyone who is grieving is invited to attend these virtual events online via Zoom. For more information, contact Michelle Bodle at [email protected].

Pennsylvania map showing Penn State's campuses with Penn State Altoona highlighted

Penn State Altoona

A full-service, four-year, residential campus located less than 45 miles from the research campus at University Park. Offering 21 four-year degrees and the first two years of over 275 Penn State majors.
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • linkedin
  • tiktok
Give Visit Apply
  • This is Penn State Altoona
    • Welcome from the Chancellor
    • Penn State Altoona At a Glance
    • Mission, Vision, and Values
    • College Leadership
    • Our History
    • Campus Map
    • Current Weather Conditions
    • Livestream
  • Academics
    • Majors
    • Academic Calendar
    • Out-of-Class Learning
    • Eiche Library
    • Registrar
    • Academic Advising
    • Honors Program
    • Campus Closures
  • Admissions
    • Visit Us
    • Information for First-Year Students
    • How to Apply
    • Accepted Students
    • Find Your Admissions Counselor
    • Experience Altoona
    • Virtual Tour
  • Tuition & Financial Aid
    • Scholarships and Awards
    • Grants
    • Loans
    • Work-study
    • Financial Aid Basics
    • Tuition and Costs
    • Financial Aid Information
  • Student Success
    • Student Success Center
    • The Help Tool
    • Tutoring
    • Student Affairs
    • Student and Civic Engagement
    • Health and Wellness Center
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
    • Safety at Penn State Altoona
    • Career Services
    • Eiche Library
  • Research & Engagement
    • Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry
    • Faculty Research Resources
    • Internships
    • Study Abroad/Study Away
    • Internal Grants and Awards
  • Athletics
    • Schedule
    • Facilities
    • Recreation and Club Sports
    • Staff and Coaches Directory
    • Athletic Training and Sports Physicals
    • Athletics News
    • Camps and Clinics
    • Hall of Fame
  • Stay Connected
    • Faculty and Staff Directory
    • Offices and Divisions
    • Campus Calendar
    • PSUAlert Text Messaging Service
    • Penn State Altoona Connect
    • Penn State Go App
    • Penn State Student Engagement Network
Penn State University
3000 Ivyside Park, Altoona, Pennsylvania 16601 814-949-5000

Footer Legal Menu

  • Privacy
  • Non-discrimination
  • Accessibility
  • Copyright
  • Directory
  • The Pennsylvania State University © 2025
  • We Are Penn State