It was an upper division college (serving only juniors and seniors) from its founding in 1966 until accepting freshmen and sophomores in 2004.

The Penn State Eastgate Center, opened in 1991 in downtown Harrisburg, contains state agencies such as the Pennsylvania Securities Commission and Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System as well as hearing rooms for workers compensation that also occupy space in the building.

Penn State Harrisburg's campus is located along the Susquehanna River near Middletown, Pennsylvania.

Harrisburg International Airport and the Middletown Amtrak station (Keystone Service) are within one mile (1.6 km) of the campus.

The area that the campus now occupies was originally used for farming, before serving as Olmsted Air Force Base.

[8] After a 10-year break from intercollegiate athletics, Penn State–Harrisburg brought back the department as of fall of the 2005–06 academic year.