STATE COLLEGE — Closing Penn State branch campuses to help address a potential 50 percent cut in state funding would strike a devastating blow to communities integrally tied to the fortunes of the university, school president Graham Spanier said.

While shutting down campuses remains an option as Penn State awaits the outcome of budget negotiations in Harrisburg, Spanier sounded averse to following through on such a scenario when asked about it in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press.

“It depends on the size of the cut, whether we would have to cross that line. But I’m very reluctant to do it because it would be devastating for the region and the communities,” Spanier said. “I’ve never wanted to go in that direction, but it would be irresponsible to say that we didn’t look at it.”

Penn State and 17 other Pennsylvania universities face unprecedented cuts in state appropriations in the $27.3 billion budget proposed last month by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.

To address an estimated $4 billion recession-driven deficit, Corbett has proposed a budget plan that would not raise taxes and would cut more than $1.6 billion from schools and universities.