Penn State reviews

4.2

77% would recommend to a friend

(4,978 total reviews)
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Eric J. Barron

73% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

Penn State has an employee rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on 4,978 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Penn State employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews
1.0
Dec 23, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Relaxed environment and good people.

Cons

Too relaxed. You can spend years there without making any progress. Advisors who do not have the capacity to take on students do so anyway and either end up dropping them because they don't have the time or just let them spin their wheels forever. Also, you don't find a research topic nor actually start doing research until year 2.

5.0
Dec 19, 2025

Great place to work!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

>Opportunities for professional development >Lots of different committees you can join to become more involved on campus >Benefits were really good while I was there

Cons

>Red tape in processing times for approvals (e.g., budgeting, hosting events)- which is common in higher education as I've worked at other universities since. It is more of an annoyance than anything :)

4.0
Dec 16, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really enjoyed my time with the labs I worked in and the incredible colleagues. Ample resources to perform the science I wanted.

Cons

Compensation was not the best, but there were some nice benefits as a postdoc.

Viewing 94 - 96 of 4,978 Reviews

Glassdoor has 5,422 Penn State reviews submitted anonymously by Penn State employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Penn State is right for you.