The campus serves students from the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania covering a five-county area that includes all or parts of Fayette, Greene, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland counties.

Penn State founded an education center in the area in 1934, as part of an initiative to provide localized learning facilities that could grant associate degrees or allow students to complete the first two years of a bachelor's degree without the expense of living in University Park.

It was first housed in rented space in downtown Uniontown before relocating to its current site three years later.

In 2004, the campus was named for Robert E. Eberly, a wealthy Pittsburgh natural gas speculator who endowed his fortune to Western Pennsylvania higher education.

The Roaring Lions are a member of the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC).