UNIVERSITY PARK (AP) -- Nearly 600 faculty and staff have taken a voluntary retirement package from Penn State University, including more than 400 employees on the main campus.

The Centre Daily Times reports 419 main campus employees took the offer, while 168 others did on satellite campuses.

Forty-six percent of employees eligible for the early retirement took it, more than the university anticipated. Faculty 62 and older and staff 60 and older were eligible for a year's lump sum pay if they had at least 15 years' service.

Heather Robbins, a spokeswoman for the university's provost, says it's not clear how much money the university will save after new workers are hired. James Strauss, chairman of the Faculty Senate, says he's hoping the retirements will lead to a "strategic realignment" and more diverse faculty in two to three years.