Penn State has experienced considerable success in its attempt to impact the campus culture through an innovative newspaper readership program. The program provides national and community newspapers to students living in residence halls on 9 of 24 campuses of the University, with the goal of “”encouraging lifelong reading habits and informed citizenship.”” With preparation for a fourth year of distribution underway, assessment of the program clearly indicates that regular newspaper readership produces a broad range of information to help students understand the world and communities in which they live.

Approximately 1.6 million copies of The Daily Collegian, The New York Times, USA Today, The Centre Daily Times and six other Pennsylvania newspapers were circulated during the third year of the program. This number will grow as off-campus students share in the program. The success of the program has led to discussions with hundreds of other universities about launching similar programs. The Penn State Pulse Survey (http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/assessment/) reported that 73 percent of student participants believed that the availability of the newspapers in the residence halls contributed to their reading the papers regularly. Half of the students surveyed indicated that newspaper readership improved their knowledge about national and local issues, and improved their ability to discuss current issues and to participate in class discussions.

A fourth of the students linked newspaper readership to learning how to evaluate the use of language and statistics; connecting real life and class concepts; and developing strategies to pursue their own goals. President Graham Spanier and Vice President William Asbury have supported new methods for distributing the newspapers to much of the study body. According to Mr. Asbury, the program refutes the contention that students “”do not read newspapers and obtain their news electronically.”” Simultaneously, there is increased involvement of faculty who are folding readership into classroom assignments and research in areas of engineering technology, English, and agriculture education. A well-informed student community is one better able to tackle issues of civic engagement, social justice, and democracy so critical to the future of our global community.

Campus environmentalists are pleased with the program because the project is generating substantial funds for student scholarships due to the recycling of hundreds of tons of newsprint.

Newspaper Readership program web site: http://news.psu.edu/