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      Penn State

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      Penn State reviews

      4.2

      77% would recommend to a friend

      (4,977 total reviews)
      avatar

      Eric J. Barron

      73% approve of CEO

      56% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.2

      Diversity & inclusion

      4.0

      Culture & values

      4.0

      Work/Life balance

      3.8

      Career opportunities

      3.6

      Senior management

      3.6

      Compensation and benefits

      Penn State has an employee rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on 4,977 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).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      5K reviews
      3.0
      Jul 21, 2009

      Working at ARL

      Research engineer iv
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Great people with loads of technical talent. Living in State College is great.

      Cons

      Dealing with Penn State management/bureaucracy.

      3.0
      Jun 28, 2009

      Good job for a student- Flexible hours

      Math grader
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      I enjoyed working as a math grader at Penn State for three years as an undergraduate student. The hours were flexible since I graded papers at my apartment and just turned in my papers at the end of the week.

      Cons

      Some professors that I worked with did not have a grasp of time and often asked for too many problems to be graded per homework assignment.

      3.0
      Jun 24, 2009

      Huge bureaucracy, stifling at times, lots of opportunities to do your thing.

      It manager iii
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      In many respects it is an open environment where you have some freedom to try new things, and experiment. As a university there is a culture that values deliberation, so if you can make your case you might have a shot at getting to implement a new way of doing things. In my experience there hasn't been a whole lot of micromanagement or harsh treatment of employees, and deadlines are generally aspirational instead of firm. That sort of treatment varies from department to department, though.

      Cons

      Starved for resources, both people-wise and money-wise. There is more work to be done than is possible to accomplish, and leadership often fails to set priorities that let lower-level staff know what should be left behind. The pay is abysmal compared to industry, but this is technically the non-profit sector so that is to be expected. Compared to other public universities, salaries are pretty good. Unless you are a 18-25 and single, State College is kind of a crappy place to live, and the cost of living is outrageous compared to other communities 20 miles away.

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      ReviewsPenn State reviews

      Glassdoor has 5,421 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.