Penn State is one university geographically dispersed throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. There are a total of twenty-four Penn State campuses; twenty of them are commonwealth campuses, while the remaining four are special unit campuses. The four unit campuses are Penn State Dickinson School of Law, Penn State Hershey Medicine, Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies and Penn State Williamsport or the Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Mont Alto is one of Penn State’s 24 commonwealth campuses, located in south central Pennsylvania.

For this blog post, I want to talk about Penn State Mont Alto. As stated in my previous posts, I attended Penn State Mont Alto during my first two years at Penn State as a Division of Undergraduate Studies student in order to complete my general education courses and decide on a major to pursue.

Penn State Mont Alto makes you feel welcome as soon as you enter the campus.

Mont Alto is located in south central Pennsylvania right above the Maryland state line. The campus is approximately thirty minutes from Hagerstown, Maryland, twenty-five to thirty minutes from Shippensburg University and is next to the Michaux State Forest and the Appalachian Trail. If you’re from out of state, Mont Alto is 89 miles from Washington D.C., 222 miles from New York and 186 miles from Richmond, Virginia.

Penn State Mont Alto has its own Nittany Lion Shrine. It’s 1/3 the size of University Park’s Nittany Lion shrine.

At Mont Alto, students have the option of obtaining an associate and/or bachelor’s degree in a select few options. For an associate’s degree, student may obtain a degree from Mont Alto in: Business, Forest Technology, Human Development and Family Studies, Information Sciences and Technology, Letters, Arts and Sciences, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapist Assistant. 

Students may also obtain Bachelor’s degrees in: Business, Human Development and Family Studies, Letters, Arts and Sciences, Information Sciences and Technology, Nursing (B.S) and Nursing (RN to B.S.)

Students also have the option of obtaining a minor in: Business, English, Women’s Studies and Security and Risk Analysis. 

Mont Alto is well-known for its forestry and nursing programs. Before the campus was Penn State Mont Alto, it was the Pennsylvania State Forestry Academy in 1903, the state’s first academy in forestry. Mont Alto is the second oldest campus in the Penn State system behind University Park.

Mont Alto’s General Studies Building.

Penn State Mont Alto has had a very rich history before and during its induction as a Penn State campus. While it was the forestry academy, first year students were required to bring a horse with them to campus. Want to learn more? Head over to the interesting facts webpage here.

If you’re interested in playing sports, Mont Alto has varsity men’s and women’s sports, as well as club sports available. The active men’s sports are: basketball, baseball, cross country, golf, soccer and wrestling. For women, you have the option of playing basketball, cross country, softball and volleyball.

Students that may not like to play competitive sports may participate in club sports like: men’s volleyball, cheerleading, intramurals, women’s soccer, woodsmen team and the dance team. For more information on Penn State Mont Alto athletics, visit their page.

Sports not your thing? No problem! Mont Alto provides students with a semester long activities calendar at the beginning of the semester The calendar includes all of the campus activities and events held during the semester.

Wiestling Student Center where many activities are held. Students also come here to study.

Some of these activities include tailgate parties during the football season, shows from comedians, dances, bingo nights, movie nights and many more fun activities. Check out Mont Alto’s online calendar of events.

So if you’re interested in visiting another Penn State commonwealth campus, Mont Alto is a great one to check out! If you would like more information on the campus, visit their website at ma.psu.edu.

Mont Alto’s welcome sign greets everyone as they enter the campus.

For the Glory…