I keep hearing conflicting answers so I thought I would ask. If you graduate from a 4 year penn state branch campus does the wording state only "the Pennsylvania State University ". Or "the Pennsylvania State University " the behrend college or something like that?
I obviously don’t know why you are asking but on your resume you would write X University City, State. You don’t send your diploma to anyone but your resume would let readers know which campus.
Just wondering if it makes a difference if you graduated from a branch campus or main on a resume or getting a job. many people I have networked with over the years ask ‘main’ or UP
I think it would, but other factors can mitigate that, such as gpa, major, internships, etc
After the holidays, call the registrar’s office at one of the campuses and ask.
I have seen pictures online of Behrend diplomas with the name on them: http://collegelifestyles.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/diploma-300x220.jpg
I sure hope U’s put the branch as well as the overall school on the diploma. I still recall being upset when the WSU’s were merging into the UW system when I was a UW-Madison student. We all did not want the lesser schools getting to use the name. Fortunately, the campus, type (BA/BS) and honors are all there. No mention of major, however, on the 40 year old musty from the safe diploma I just checked. Transcript is where you find the gpa and major(s).
Agree- check with the school.
In Illinois, the words University of Illinois is written in large prominent letter. In small letters it will say which campus. The degree is on the diploma and the type face is larger and more prominent than the campus. You can easily overlook the campus location if you don’t know where it is. Personally, I don’t think it really matters whether the diploma states the campus or not. The last time I was at the UIC bookstore I noticed they were selling diploma frames. The dummy diplomas in there said it was from Urbana-Champaign.
UIC is one of the few schools which actually discusses what school name to use because of the number of name changes. More or less it states you can safely use the old name, the current UIC name, or just state University of Illinois. However, if you get a transcript, I believe, it will have the old school name on it, if applicable; though it will use current UIC stationery.
What your diploma says doesn’t matter, because nobody will see your diploma.
Your resume is what matters, and you will usually put the branch campus name on your resume. Even if you put only “Pennsylvania State University,” it’s traditional to put the city and state of your university on your resume as well, so you’d write “Abington, PA” or “Altoona, PA” instead of “University Park, PA”.
Of course it makes a difference, but perhaps not as much as you think.
I agree with juillet. Regardless of you diploma, your resume should reflect the actual campus in which you graduated.
If he gets a business degree from Behrend or Harrisburg, he would not put that his degree is from Smeal College of Business.
I appreciate all the responses. I have heard at different places of business that HR puts more weight on your application if you graduated from UP ‘main’.(because it is harder to get into, more prestigious,considered a state ‘Ivy’. My S would like to enter the engineering field, to me, both campuses are excellent (UP and Erie). There are not many state schools that offer engineering in PA, most are private and all ending up costing the same as a branch campus after scholarships. The only liberal arts state schools have computer science and that would save him about 10K a year. (If mom had a choice he would go to community for 2 years, live at home and transfer) 
His first choice since he has been a small child is PSU. When we went to the campus his eyes lit up, smiling everywhere loved the vibe…I believe he will be disappointed if he gets his second choice campus.
He hasn’t heard from the admissions for 16 weeks so what’s 4 more? lol Thanks again everyone!