For the latest status information from Penn State, visit this link.
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8:30 p.m.,5/7/2026
The following update has been shared by email this evening with our students:
Dear Penn State students,
As you are likely aware, Penn State and many other universities are currently experiencing a Canvas outage, and no one has access. The Penn State team is working diligently on the issue.
Given that we do not expect resolution to occur within the next 24 hours — and it could stretch beyond — tests and other assignments to be completed in Canvas will not be available. All tests scheduled to be administered in the Pollock Testing Center Thursday night and Friday have been canceled.
We have notified your faculty and are working with them to determine next steps for final grading. We are determining how best to move forward and will reach out to you with information via email as soon as possible. It is important that you check your email regularly while this situation is being addressed.
For the latest information on the Canvas outage, please visit this Penn State IT website.
For those of you who are attending commencement this weekend, you may still participate and walk in commencement even if you have not received final grades. Faculty may offer deferred grades as a possible and reasonable option to being unable to complete final exams, assignments, and projects, and as noted above we will email as soon as possible with further information. Please be aware that you cannot receive your diploma with an unresolved deferred grade (DF) on your transcript. We recognize how disruptive this is at the end of your semester and are working to create as much flexibility as possible.
We also encourage you to take advantage of University resources, if you feel you need them:
- Student Care and Advocacy: https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/about/directory/sca | 814-863-2020
- Counseling & Psychological Services: https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling. Counseling and mental health services available through CAPS, which can be reached at 814-863-0395 for University Park students, or at each Commonwealth Campus location.
- Penn State Crisis Line: 1-877-229-6400 or text “LIONS” to 741741. The Penn State Crisis Line (877-229-6400) and the Crisis Text Line (text “LIONS†to 741741), which are open 24/7 to Penn Staters dealing with both crisis and non-crisis situations — including faculty, staff and students at all campuses who have a question about someone else. The licensed professionals with the Penn State Crisis Line can help evaluate each individual situation, offer guidance, and help connect callers with further resources if appropriate.
Periodic updates will continue to be shared on Penn State News. We recognize how stressful and frustrating this situation must be for many of you. Please know that we are doing everything in our power to resolve this situation and minimize the impact on our students. We will get you information as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Fotis Sotiropoulos
Executive Vice President and Provost
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8:30 p.m.,5/7/2026
The following update has been shared this evening with our faculty:
Dear Penn State Faculty,
We are writing to update you on the Canvas outage, which continues to impact universities around the world. Please know that many at Penn State are working to restore access. I am well aware of how frustrating this situation is, and we appreciate all your efforts on behalf of Penn State students.
While we hope for a speedy resolution, we do not expect Canvas to be available today or likely tomorrow. As a result, we made the difficult decision to cancel all tests in the Pollock Testing Center this evening and tomorrow.
We ask that you reach out to your students about next steps. It is possible to use LionPATH to email students. Please know that if you have completed your grading, you are able to submit your grades directly to LionPATH. Certainly, we will adjust the deadline for submitting grades as appropriate, depending on how long it takes to resolve this situation. You can still retrieve Canvas gradebook data through Course Insights at https://insights.it.psu.edu/. At this time, the last reliable snapshot of Canvas data available in the system is from Wednesday, May 6, at 7 p.m.
Instructions on how to submit grades and email students through LionPATH are available online here.
As you consider options for assigning grades, if you have uncompleted or ungraded and inaccessible exams, final projects and/or assignments, you may decide to complete these in an alternate format, to extend deadlines, to allow students to take the current grade they have in the course, or offer students the option of a deferred (DF) grade. Please be mindful that students who are graduating cannot receive their degree if there is a DF on their transcript and students likely have travel plans that they cannot change.
If you hear from students who are concerned about how this may impact their commencement, they may still participate and walk in commencement even if they have not received final grades. Please be as flexible as possible and offer support to students as you help them to navigate this challenge.
For the latest information on the Canvas outage, please visit this Penn State IT website.
Periodic updates also will be posted to Penn State News. Thank you so much for your support.
Sincerely,
Fotis Sotiropoulos
Executive Vice President and Provost
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5:07 p.m., 5/7/2026
Penn State is currently experiencing an outage to Canvas related to an ongoing security incident affecting Instructure, the vendor that provides the Canvas platform. Penn State is one of many institutions around the country affected by this issue.
Out of an abundance of caution, users should avoid interacting with or clicking on any links, messages, or content that may be posted by threat actors or appear suspicious during this event. Penn State will never direct users to unverified third-party sites for Canvas-related communications or remediation activities.
We understand the importance of Canvas to teaching and learning activities and recognize the outage this is causing. We will continue to share updates as additional information becomes available.
