In the face of severe financial impacts to the University brought on by the global coronavirus pandemic, on April 23 Penn State President Eric J. Barron announced some salary adjustments; a 3% across-the-board cut to university budgets in the next fiscal year; and his intention to work with the Board of Trustees to freeze tuition for the 2020-21 academic year to limit student costs.
Old Main's bell — its chimes long replaced by modern technology — was removed and restored as a gift of Penn State’s class of 2009, and is now displayed outdoors at ground level near Old Main’s southwest corner.