UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As news outlets continue to shift reporting online and offer additional content through websites and mobile apps, Penn State's Student News Readership Program also is evolving. This year, the program is offering digital subscriptions to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The robust digital news subscriptions include access to podcasts, videos and interactive media.
Digital subscriptions are available to students, faculty and staff at University Park and all Commonwealth Campuses at no additional cost. Students at most campuses will still have access to print newspapers through the 2019-20 academic year, but the program will begin to reduce newspaper distribution and eventually replace printed newspapers with digital access.
The new digital subscription options provide access to unlimited articles online or through the mobile apps and connect the Penn State community to trusted reporting on breaking news and in-depth stories from across the nation and around the World.
To register for a digital subscription, students, faculty and staff can visit newspapers.psu.edu and follow instructions for access using a Penn State email address. Faculty and staff will be required to renew their access annually. Students will enter a graduation date upon registering.
The Student News Readership Program, a unit of Penn State Student Affairs, has provided students with free print newspapers and access to digital subscriptions for more than 20 years. The most recent newspapers offered through the program include The New York Times, USA Today, Centre Daily Times (or alternate local newspaper) and, most recently, The Wall Street Journal.
The transition to digital-only offerings follows the nationwide trend of digital news and the decline in popularity of print newspapers. The decisions to add The Wall Street Journal and to increase digital subscription offerings were made with feedback from faculty and students through focus groups and surveys.
Penn State’s news readership program was originally launched in 1997. The goal of the program is to provide students with access to trusted journalism, including breaking news and in-depth reporting on important international, national and local issues, while also encouraging newspaper readership for life. The program is now a model for other universities nationwide.