(Brockway, PA) Prospective students next week can apply free for admission, explore two-year associate degree transfer and career programs and discover how to minimize or avoid higher education debt by attending BC3 @ Brockway’s open houses.
BC3 @ Brockway will waive its $25 application fee during its open houses at 1200 Wood St., Suite D, Brockway.
Prospective students and their families can learn more about BC3 @ Brockway’s five transfer programs and its career programs in business management, health care science and office administration-executive during a general open house scheduled for 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. April 14.
Guests can review BC3 @ Brockway’s career program in Nursing, R.N., during an open house from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 14.
Prospective students can RSVP for either open house at bc3.edu/open-house.
BC3 @ Brockway is Butler County Community College’s only additional location to offer Nursing, R.N. The program has graduated 72 students since 2020, including a record 24 in 2024.
The Nursing, R.N., open house will include a presentation at 5:30 p.m. about a tuition assistance program for registered nursing students sponsored by Penn Highlands Healthcare in BC3 @ Brockway’s service area.
“We get compliments that our faculty are dedicated. They give students that extra help, a lot of one-on-one attention to help them through the content.”
“They get a good, quality education here”
BC3 @ Brockway, said Dr. Jill Martin Rend, represents a unique opportunity with its nursing partnerships, Varischetti Family and other scholarships, and programs such as Job Corps and Keystone Education Yields Success — which helps low-income students and this spring had a record 15 participants.
“They’re getting the total package,” Rend, director of BC3 @ Brockway, said about KEYS and other financial assistance opportunities. “There is very little that they pay out of pocket, which is huge. They get a good, quality education here and the students can go right into the workforce after graduating.”
KEYS is funded by the state Department of Human Services and is designed to help students who receive cash assistance or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to pursue post-secondary education at a Pennsylvania’s community college.
Students in BC3 @ Brockway’s KEYS program may be eligible through county assistance offices to receive help in areas such as childcare, mileage and bus passes, an automobile purchase or repairs, and textbooks or supplies for training.
“Our faculty are dedicated”
BC3 @ Brockway will offer BC3’s most-popular associate degree programs during a fall semester that begins Aug. 25 and instructed by “quality faculty members,” Rend said.
“We get compliments that our faculty are dedicated. They give students that extra help, a lot of one-on-one attention to help them through the content.”
Nursing, R.N., health care science and business management are BC3’s top three associate degree career programs this spring, according to Dr. Sharla Anke, BC3’s dean of institutional effectiveness.
General studies, business administration, psychology and early childhood education (Pre K-4) are the college’s top four associate degree transfer programs, according to Anke.
Students in BC3 @ Brockway’s career programs can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.
“Businesses contact us often looking for fill job openings with our students,” Rend said. “We have job postings up in the building. Students get a practical, useful degree and they can go right out and get a job. We can keep them here in our communities working and being a part of our area.”
BC3 @ Brockway’s credits can be transferred toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
68% of BC3’s Class of 2024 graduated debt-free
BC3’s affordable tuition and fees, financial aid options and scholarships from the BC3 Education Foundation enabled 68 percent of the college’s Class of 2024 to graduate debt-free.
Tuition and fees for 15 credits taken through in-person courses this fall at BC3 @ Brockway are projected to cost $4,650, according to Jake Friel, the college’s vice president for administration and finance.
Tuition and fees for a full-time student for one semester at regional public or private four-year colleges and universities range from at least $5,569 to $19,735, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
Students who attend BC3 @ Brockway in the 2025-2026 academic year can receive up to $11,821 in federal and state grants, according to Juli Louttit, the college’s director of student financial services.
The BC3 Education Foundation in the 2024-2025 academic year awarded 158 scholarships to BC3 students ranging from $500 to $5,000, according to Bobbi Jo Cornetti, the foundation’s development coordinator. Registered students beginning April 15 can apply for a scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year at bc3.edu/scholarships.
The Varischetti Family Scholarship was established with the BC3 Education Foundation in 2014 to recruit students to and retain students at BC3 @ Brockway. Nearly $257,000 in Varischetti Family Scholarships have been awarded to 643 BC3 @ Brockway students since 2015, according to Cornetti.
BC3 this fall will add technical trades-cosmetology management option to its selection of 14 associate degree or certificate programs that can be completed virtually.
Prospective students can also email questions to jill.martin-rend@bc3.edu or call 814-265-1813.
