(Brockway, PA) Prospective students can learn about new virtual opportunities that more than double the number of credit programs available at BC3 @ Brockway, about its 5-year-old registered nursing program and about its affordability during an open house May 4.
BC3 @ Brockway will waive its $25 application fee for prospective students who apply for admission at the open house, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 1200 Wood St., Suite D, Brockway.
Prospective students can RSVP to attend the open house at BC3.edu/open-house
BC3 @ Brockway on May 4 will also host a free workshop to help prospective students or their families apply for federal financial aid, and an information session about its Nursing, R.N., associate degree program.
The free application for federal student aid workshop will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Computer Lab 118. Families or prospective students can RSVP to attend the workshop by emailing financialaid@bc3.edu
The Nursing, R.N., information session will be held from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Room 206. BC3 @ Brockway in 2022 graduated its largest class in the career program that debuted in 2018 to address a high-priority occupation in the six-county North Central Workforce Development Area.
Open house guests can also learn about support services and student activities, tour the facility and review financial aid opportunities and tuition.
Students this fall at BC3 @ Brockway can select from 19 associate degree, certificate or workplace certificate programs.
New options include four associate degree and nine certificate or workplace certificate virtual programs whose courses will be instructed by BC3 faculty and accessible at any time.
Prospective students can indicate on their free application for admission their intention to pursue a virtual program that can be completed entirely online.
Accounting among new virtual programs
BC3 @ Brockway will add an associate degree program in accounting, which will be instructed virtually. It will also offer virtual alternatives to associate degree programs in business administration, business management and psychology.
Business administration and psychology join as associate degree transfer programs at BC3 @ Brockway early childhood education (Pre K-4), general studies and social work.
Approximately 60 percent of BC3 students this spring are enrolled in transfer programs, according to Sharla Anke, BC3’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.
Accounting, business management and Nursing, R.N., join health care science and office administration-executive as associate degree career programs at BC3 @ Brockway.
Credits required to graduate from a BC3 @ Brockway associate degree program regardless of instructional format range from 60 to 70.
Develop skills to enter workforce immediately
Virtual certificate or workplace certificate programs will be available to students in accounting skills, basic manufacturing, business skills, entrepreneurship, human resources, human resource management specialist, management of applied technology, marketing management and Microsoft Office specialist.
Certificate programs include more general education, elective or career-preparatory courses than do workplace certificates. The new virtual certificates require 30 to 33 credits to graduate and workplace certificates, 16 to 21.
Students in BC3 @ Brockway’s associate degree career programs, and in certificate and workplace certificate programs, can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.
Students can also apply BC3 @ Brockway’s credits toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
60% graduated debt-free in 2022
Spring 2023 tuition and fees for students attending BC3 @ Brockway cost $280 per credit for an in-person course and $305 for an online course.
Spring 2023 tuition and fees at regional public four-year universities start at $437.23 per credit for Pennsylvania residents for an in-person course, and start at $374.20 for an online course.
Spring 2023 tuition and fees for Pennsylvania residents attending regional state-related institutions’ branch campuses cost between $582 and $734 per credit for an in-person course, and start at $620 for an online course.
The BC3 Education Foundation in 2022-2023 has awarded to BC3 students a record $280,000 in scholarships, said Lynn Ismail, the foundation’s assistant director and its financial manager.
Nearly 60 percent of BC3’s Class of 2022 graduated debt-free.
Eight No. 1 rankings in state since 2015
BC3 has been ranked as the No. 1 community college in Pennsylvania eight times since 2015, most recently for 2023 by Niche.com.
Sources in Niche’s August report included the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System; the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Post-Secondary Education and College Scorecard data; the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit public policy and research organization; and its college student survey.
Students who take health care science courses at BC3 @ Brockway can also finish associate degrees in physical therapist assistant; or in technical trades-massage therapy management option on BC3’s main campus. They can also finish their certificates in massage therapy or in practical nursing on BC3’s main campus.
Students can also take pre-nursing courses at BC3 @ Brockway.
BC3’s fall semester begins Aug. 21 with a 15-week Session 1 and a five-week mostly online Fast Track 1.
The college’s 10-week Session 2 begins Sept. 18. Fast Track 2 starts Sept. 25 and Fast Track 3, Oct. 30.
Prospective BC3 @ Brockway students can email questions to jill.martin-rend@bc3.edu or call 814-265-1813.
