Penn State Lehigh Valley is a commonwealth campus of Pennsylvania State University. It is located in Center Valley, outside of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1912, Penn State Lehigh Valley is the oldest of Penn State's commonwealth campuses.In 1912, Penn State opened its first permanent "branch school" in the attic of an elementary school in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Designed to provide professional training to employees, the Allentown Branch School offered evening courses in engineering.