STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — As the NCAA considers whether Penn State should face penalties following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal — including a possible shutdown of its celebrated football program — the university says it will respond within days to the governing body's demand for information.

The head of the NCAA has declared that the so-called death penalty has not been ruled out for Penn State, but university president Rodney Erickson said Tuesday he doesn't want to "jump to conclusions" about possible sanctions.

The NCAA is investigating whether Penn State lost "institutional control" over its athletic program and violated ethics rules. Its probe had been on hold for eight months while former FBI Director Louis Freeh conducted an investigation on behalf of the school's board of trustees. Freeh's 267-page report, released last week, asserted that late football coach Joe Paterno and three top officials buried allegations against Sandusky, his retired defensive coordinator, more than a decade ago to protect the university's image.