UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As of the close of the fiscal year on June 30, the Penn State Alumni Association’s annual snapshot of membership numbers showed another year of growth, increasing from 174,379 to 177,307 — a gain of 2,928 members or 1.7 percent. “Once again, our alumni and friends have shown their passion and pride as expressed by yet another year of impressive membership growth,” said Alumni Association Immediate Past President Kay Salvino. “We are so grateful to the thousands of Penn Staters whose love and loyalty for this great University is unparalleled in global higher education.”
“Without question, our members — alumni, parents, students, and friends — make the Alumni Association’s mission of service to Penn State and Penn Staters everywhere possible,” Salvino added.
During the past year, all categories of membership grew. Life membership topped the 110,000 mark, coming in at 110,119 — up from 108,585 last fiscal year — a gain of 1.4 percent. Life members now compose 62 percent of total membership, while annual members — 67,188 in total — account for the remaining 38 percent.
Today, nearly one out of every eight Penn State students is a member of the Blue & White Society, the student contingent of the Alumni Association. BWS members are on every campus and in every college throughout Penn State.
In addition to membership growth, the Alumni Association’s Sustaining Life Program, an annual giving program for members to support Alumni Association programs, raised more than $646,027, an increase over 2014 of 3.6 percent. More than 9,500 current members contributed this year to the Sustaining Life Program.
There are more than 645,000 living Penn State alumni. The number of “active, addressable” alumni (all alumni for whom some contact information is available) for the year ending June 30, 2015, is 601,757. While Penn Staters live and work all over the globe, more than 40 percent of them live in five metropolitan areas: Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Harrisburg; New York City; and Washington, D.C.
Established in 1870, the Penn State Alumni Association connects alumni to the University and to each other; provides valuable benefits to members; and supports the University’s mission of teaching, research and service. More information about the Alumni Association and membership is available at alumni.psu.edu.