PSU closes Salem Extended Campus Program

After a two-year review process, Portland State’s Extended Campus Program in Salem has ended.

The Salem site, established about 15 years ago, was the only physical extension of the PSU campus outside Portland. The program offered degrees in social sciences and liberal arts.

“A consistent migration of students to online classes [is] the main reason the [program] is being closed,” said PSU Communications Director Scott Gallagher. “Staff and advisers are working with students to ensure successful completion of existing classes and a transition to new online class offerings beginning this summer.”

Most students who participated in the program used online options to complete courses.

“[Less than 10] students are truly impacted by closing the physical location because they did not utilize online options,” Gallagher said. Three faculty positions in Salem were eliminated.

“The program created a way for students to earn a bachelor’s degree without having to come to [the] main campus, which was very convenient for students who lived in other parts of the state,” said Robert Shunk, the assistant director of the Extended Campus Program.

Students in the program will have access to resources in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Still, some students expressed frustration at the closure.

“I feel I’m being forced to take what I can get while having to pay thousands to do it, or quit school for a while and look more at different schools, [all of which] would take me off my course,” said Bethany Garcia, who took Extended Campus courses.

Shunk said that the program would work with individual students to address their concerns.

“While the Salem center is now closing, any online student who has been active in the program over the last two years can still finish their degree fully online,” Shunk said.