This paper analyzes the campus-based tensions which are emerging in the multi-campus university during a critical period of structural development. A multi-campus system easily generates intrinsic tensions between "localist" campus-based interests and system-level interests, in which the interests of external stakeholders often play a central role. These campus-based tensions are empirically explored through two illustrative examples involving the University of Eastern Finland, which is a multi-campus university established through the merger of two universities in 2010. The key theoretical idea of the analysis derives from a multi-scalar framework, in which the actors and processes of structural development are analyzed across multiple geographical scales. The findings of the case studies are divided into four types, addressing the competitive spatial horizons of the main university actors and stakeholders. From a management perspective, structural development in a multi-campus university is seen as a difficult balancing act between campus-based and system-wide interests.