(Butler, PA) The instructor is a Butler County Community College assistant professor.
The location is BC3’s humanities and education building.
The students are BC3 graduates.
The three-credit course – psychology of adulthood and aging, taught by Annie Lindsay – is La Roche University’s, and leads to a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the private institution in Allegheny County.
BC3 has bachelor’s degree-completion partnerships with six senior institutions of higher education that offer graduates of the college the opportunity to transfer more credits than those required to earn an associate degree.
La Roche is the only to provide in-person classes on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township.
“There is a group of students who like to stay here at the BC3 campus,” said Amy Pignatore, the college’s dean of admissions and its registrar. “They’re comfortable here and they feel at home at BC3.”
La Roche courses named career and professional development, and psychology of adulthood and aging, are being taught in-person this fall at BC3 and lead to the McCandless Township institution’s 120-credit bachelor’s degree.
“I think a majority of the students are used to the BC3 campus and they don’t have to get used to another campus,” said Sherryl Lisco, associate director of admissions at La Roche. “It feels like a nice flow, that they are going to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the comfort of the institution they are familiar with.”
"All of my classes at BC3 @ Armstrong were small, so it was very interactive and we felt comfortable talking to the teachers. And that’s exactly how I feel in this partnership program.”
Nearly 45 BC3 graduates have earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology through BC3’s partnership with La Roche since the agreement began in 2015, Pignatore said. Seven are enrolled in the program this semester, including one pursuing a minor in psychology from La Roche.
BC3’s transfer program in psychology was the fifth-most popular among graduates who earned associate degrees in the college’s Class of 2022, according to Becky Smith, the college’s director of records and registration. It is also in the top five programs pursued by new and returning students at BC3 this fall, according to Sharla Anke, the college’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.
BC3’s associate degree in psychology requires 60 credits. As part of the partnership, La Roche allows BC3 graduates to transfer up to 75 credits and offers a significant discount for the remainder of the credits required to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Lisco said.
“That gives me goosebumps,” said Melissa Philson, coordinator of BC3’s psychology program and an associate professor at the college.
“I just find that amazing, and it makes me so happy that our graduates have access to something like this.”
“They're comfortable here and they feel at home at BC3.”
Keely Kijowski is among those graduates. She transferred 73 credits to La Roche, plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology and one day comfort hospitalized children as a youth service specialist.
“It’s really affordable, and that was important to me,” said Kijowski, 21, of Dayton, Armstrong County, who earned an associate degree in psychology from BC3 @ Armstrong near Ford City and was among the 60 percent of those who graduated debt-free from BC3 in its Class of 2022.
“I’m also familiar with the BC3 campus, so that was a plus. I just wanted to feel comfortable. Every time I walk on campus, everyone is always waving and smiling, even if they don’t know you. And I really appreciate that.”
La Roche offers accelerated eight-week courses. Two are held in-person on BC3’s main campus this fall. Students can also attend courses at La Roche’s campus, or online, for $442 per credit.
“I like the combination of online and in person because I have such a long commute,” Kijowski said of her 50-minute drive to BC3. “But it’s nice to actually be in class. All of my classes at BC3 @ Armstrong were small, so it was very interactive and we felt comfortable talking to the teachers. And that’s exactly how I feel in this partnership program.”
Other senior institutions of higher education that offer BC3 graduates the opportunity to transfer more credits than those required to earn an associate degree provide their programs online. Those institutions are Franklin, Southern New Hampshire and Western Governors universities; the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania at Lock Haven and St. Francis Worldwide.
