(Hermitage, PA) Prospective students can explore BC3 @ LindenPointe’s 16 associate degree and certificate programs, and learn about the transferability of its credits and its savings compared to Pennsylvania’s public four-year and state-related institutions during a virtual visit or in-person tour as part of BC3 Bound beginning April 6.
Prospective students can schedule a virtual visit, or an in-person tour of BC3 @ LindenPointe, 3182 Innovation Way, Hermitage, for select BC3 Bound dates and apply free by entering the code BC3Bound2021 at bc3.edu/bc3bound.
BC3 Bound at BC3 @ LindenPointe will be held April 6-7, April 20-21 and May 4-5.
During a virtual visit or in-person tour, prospective students can ask BC3 representatives about financial aid, BC3’s five start dates each semester, BC3’s 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, support services and BC3 @ LindenPointe’s programs of study.
BC3 has been ranked as the No. 1 community college in Pennsylvania five times since 2015, most recently for 2020 by BestColleges.com. The BC3 Education Foundation annually awards more than $200,000 in named scholarships which, with financial aid and BC3’s affordable tuition, allowed 80 percent of BC3’s Class of 2020 to graduate debt-free.
BC3 @ LindenPointe offers associate degrees in 11 transfer programs and in four career programs. Its menu also includes a certificate program in medical coding and billing specialist that takes one year or less to complete.
Credits transfer to four-year institutions
BC3 @ LindenPointe students can apply credits earned toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities. Students in BC3 @ LindenPointe’s career programs can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately after graduation.
Approximately 70 percent of BC3 students this spring are enrolled in transfer programs.
BC3 @ LindenPointe’s selection of two-year transfer programs features business administration, communications, computer science, criminology, early childhood education (Pre K-4), general studies, physical education-sport management option, psychology, secondary education-English option, secondary education-social sciences option and social work.
BC3 @ LindenPointe’s menu of two-year career programs includes business management, emergency services-police services option, human resource management and marketing management.
A certificate program in medical coding and billing specialist is also among the choices at BC3 @ LindenPointe.
Students who complete a BC3 @ LindenPointe degree in business administration, criminology, early childhood education (Pre K-4), psychology and social work can transfer all credits to a parallel program and with junior standing to any Pennsylvania public four-year institution.
Students who complete a BC3 @ LindenPointe degree in business administration, communications, computer science, criminology, general studies or psychology can transfer all credits to a parallel program to any Penn State University commonwealth campus.
Students can also take pre-nursing courses at BC3 @ LindenPointe and finish their degree in Nursing, R.N., on BC3’s main campus.
BC3 savings range from $3K to $27K per year
Full-time BC3 students from Mercer County can save $3,115 annually in tuition and fees compared to the average charged by Pennsylvania’s public four-year universities or $5,785 compared to the average charged by Pennsylvania’s state-related institutions’ branch campuses.
Tuition and fees average $11,215 for students pursuing 15 credits per semester for one year in 2020-2021 at a Pennsylvania public four-year university; $13,885 at a state-related institution’s branch campus; $16,926 at a state-related institution’s main campus; and $35,087 at a private institution.
Tuition and fees for BC3 students from Mercer County pursuing 15 credits per semester for one year during the 2020-2021 academic year are $8,100.
The average student-loan debt for the Class of 2019 was $38,521 in Pennsylvania, according to an Aug. 19 report in LendEDU, a website that provides comparisons for loans, credit cards and other financial products. Only student borrowers in New Hampshire and Connecticut were reported to have higher student-loan debt.
“I feel like BC3 was a better choice for me”
Breanna Weilacker, 20, expects to graduate debt-free from BC3 @ LindenPointe in May with an associate degree in psychology.
“It makes me freer to do what I choose later on,” said Weilacker, of West Middlesex and a 2019 graduate of West Middlesex Junior-Senior High School. “I feel like BC3 was a better choice for me rather than a university because it’s a lot more affordable. … Affordability is important to me because being from a small town, money was tight and BC3 allowed me to get a quality degree for a low cost.”
Weilacker plans to become a mental health counselor – “I want to uplift people and have a good, quality life” – and has twice been recognized on BC3’s president’s list.
“I got very high grades because BC3,” Weilacker said, “is a lot more personalized.”
Students who achieve president’s list honors have attained a cumulative grade-point average of 3.75 or higher during a semester in which they have earned at least 12 credits.
