[16] The university competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the NCAA for most of its athletic teams, known collectively as the Penn State Nittany Lions.

[18][17] Initially sponsored by the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, the use of "college" or "university" was avoided in the school's naming since local Pennsylvanians perceived that such institutions were impractical in their curricula.

[24] Under Eisenhower's successor, Eric A. Walker, the university acquired hundreds of acres of surrounding land, and enrollment nearly tripled.

Athletic director Timothy Curley and Gary Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business, were indicted for perjury.

In the wake of the scandal, Coach Joe Paterno was fired[29] and school president Graham B. Spanier was forced to resign[30] by the board of trustees.

A subcommittee of the board of trustees engaged former FBI director Louis Freeh to head an independent investigation on the university's handling of the incidents.

Freeh released his findings in July 2012, concluding that Paterno, Spanier, Curley, and Schultz "conceal[ed] Sandusky's activities from the board of trustees, the university community and authorities" and "failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade".

[35] Subsequent emails, brought forward under subpoena, quoted an NCAA vice president, who wrote, "I characterized our approach to PSU as a bluff when talking to Mark [Emmert, NCAA president]...He basically agreed [because] I think he understands that if we made this an enforcement issue, we may win the immediate battle but lose the war.

Senator and athletics integrity monitor George J. Mitchell citing progress by Penn State in implementing reforms, the NCAA repealed the sanctions.

Before the arrival of the Interstates, University Park was a short distance from the Lock Haven – Altoona branch line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Examples of online programs include an MBA, a master of professional studies in homeland security, a Bachelor of Science in nursing, and post-baccalaureate certificates in geographic information systems and applied behavior analysis.

For the 2006–2007 fiscal year, the university received 9.7 percent of its budget from state appropriations, the lowest of the four state-related institutions in Pennsylvania.

Its members include the university's president, the Governor of the Commonwealth, and the state Secretaries of Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, and Education.

As of 2013[update], the chair of the board of trustees is Keith E. Masser, a graduate of Penn State and the chairman and chief executive officer of Sterman Masser, Inc.[66] The board's main responsibilities are to select the president of Penn State, determine the goals and strategic direction of the university, and approve the annual budget.

Elected student leaders remain directly involved in the decision-making of the university administration, as provided for in the board of trustees' standing orders.

[75] Admission to Penn State University Park is classified as "selective" by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

The network provides funding, facilitates collaboration between universities, and coordinates exchanges of faculty members and graduate students among institutions.

The university's College of Information Sciences and Technology is the home of CiteSeerX, an open-access repository and search engine for scholarly publications.

The following morning, 50 state troopers and 45 local and campus police, equipped with helmets, batons, and rubber gloves, entered the building as the crowd outside sang "We Shall Overcome", arresting 89 individuals for trespassing.

In 1990, a vice provost for educational equity was appointed to lead a five-year strategic plan to "create an environment characterized by equal access and respected participation for all groups and individuals irrespective of cultural differences.

"[120][121] Since then, discrimination issues include the handling of death threats in 1992 and 2001,[122][123][124][125] controversy around LGBT issues,[126] and the investigation of a 2006 sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by former Lady Lions basketball player Jennifer Harris, alleging that head coach Rene Portland dismissed her from the team in part due to her perceived sexual orientation.

Additional organizations on campus include Thespians, Blue Band, Chabad, Glee Club, Aish HaTorah,[130] Student Programming Association (SPA), Lion's Pantry, Boulevard, Apollo, 3D Printer Club, Digi Digits, and the Anime Organization, which hosts an annual Central Pennsylvania-based anime convention, Setsucon.

[131] Annually in February, thousands of students participate in the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON), the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.

The publication seeks to foster the multicultural student voice through creating an open forum of discussion and promoting diversity and community involvement.

Other programming includes student talk shows, political coverage, AP syndicated news, and soft rock music.

[136] La Vie 1987, edited by David Beagin, won a College Gold Crown for Yearbooks award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Notable Penn State alumni who worked at the magazine include Julius J. Epstein, who wrote the screenplay for Casablanca in 1942 and won three Academy Awards.

[143] Pink and black still will make periodic appearances at athletic events in the modern era as a special student "S" section during certain games.

Penn State athletic teams have claimed a total of 82 national collegiate team championships since the university's founding, including 54 NCAA, two consensus Division I football titles, six AIAW, three USWLA, one WIBC, four national titles in boxing, 11 in men's soccer, and one in wrestling in years prior to NCAA sponsorship.

[148] Since joining the Big Ten in 1991, Penn State teams have won 124 conference regular season and tournament titles, through June, 2023.