(Brockway, PA) Breanna Welch had taken only online courses in her final 2½ years at DuBois Area High School, and may have continued that format during her first semester in college if not for an activity BC3 @ Brockway offered during its fall 2022 Welcome Day.
“I was anxious about attending because I was in high school when COVID started,” said Welch, 20, of Grampian. “I did not go back to public school in person. So that was my first interaction with a school in a while.”
New students were introduced to one another by asking questions about their favorite food, their travel destinations or their high school alma mater during a personalized bingo.
“That was really welcoming,” said Welch, a 2022 graduate of DuBois High. “It made you want to meet people. There were a lot of people there who were going to BC3 @ Brockway for different programs, and a lot of people for the same program. I feel like having just one thing in common from bingo sparked conversations.
“That actually made me want to take in-person classes because everyone everywhere was nice. It was a welcoming community.”
Prospective students can explore BC3 @ Brockway’s welcoming community during open houses April 22 and April 29 at 1200 Wood St., Suite D, Brockway.
Open houses will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“A lot of the teachers go above and beyond with their students. They will sit there one-on-one and work with you.”
“We hear that a lot. We do have good, quality faculty here. They care about the students. They care about the students’ learning.
“Your class sizes are small” at BC3 @ Brockway
The April 22 open house will showcase BC3 @ Brockway’s associate degree career program in Nursing, R.N. An information session from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. will include a presentation about a tuition assistance program for Nursing, R.N., students sponsored by Penn Highlands Healthcare in BC3 @ Brockway’s service area.
The April 29 open house will feature BC3 @ Brockway’s additional associate degree career and transfer programs.
Prospective students can apply free during each open house and can RSVP to attend at bc3.edu/open-house
Guests attending the open houses can also learn about BC3 @ Brockway’s affordability, support services, financial aid options and resources such as free tutoring.
Welch expects to achieve an associate degree in psychology from BC3 @ Brockway in May. Nearly 90 percent of the courses she has taken at BC3 @ Brockway have been in person and have included a maximum of 13 students, she said.
“When you go to BC3 @ Brockway, your class sizes are small,” Welch said. “I’m not afraid to ask questions at all. I feel that if I had a bigger class, I wouldn’t ask anything.
“A lot of the teachers go above and beyond with their students. They will sit there one-on-one and work with you. That makes me understand the material better because I am actually engaging in a conversation with them.”
“We hear that a lot,” said Dr. Jill Martin Rend, director of BC3 @ Brockway. “We do have good, quality faculty here. They care about the students. They care about the students’ learning. Our faculty members are dedicated to teaching. They are not just here to get a paycheck.”
“BC3 @ Brockway was the most affordable”
Welch works 25 hours per week in customer service and considered attending number of colleges and universities within an hour’s drive of her home.
“BC3 @ Brockway was the most affordable,” she said. “I have bills I have to pay monthly. I’d rather be able to save the money I can for my everyday necessities.
“I can take classes here instead of anywhere else for less money and still get the same education.”
Students attending BC3 @ Brockway this spring are paying $290 per credit in tuition and fees for an in-person course. They would pay at least $437.23 per credit in tuition and fees at a regional public four-year university or $582 at a regional state-related institution’s branch campus this spring.
BC3’s affordability, and financial aid and scholarships allowed 75 percent of the college’s Class of 2023 to graduate debt-free.
BC3 students approved for federal and state grants will receive an average of $5,046 in the 2023-2024 academic year, according to Juli Louttit, the college’s director of financial aid.
In addition to psychology, BC3 @ Brockway offers associate degree transfer programs in business administration, early childhood education (Pre K-4), general studies and social work. Joining Nursing, R.N., as BC3 @ Brockway associate degree career programs are business management, health care science and office administration-executive.
BC3 @ Brockway’s credits can be applied toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
“BC3 is like a family”
Welch intends to transfer this fall to Pennsylvania Western University at Clarion, and said she wished she could achieve a bachelor’s degree at BC3 @ Brockway.
“It’s the bond you have with the people at BC3 @ Brockway,” she said. “BC3 is like a family.”
The BC3 Education Foundation in the 2023-2024 academic year had available a record 155 scholarships that ranged in amounts from $300 to $5,000, according to Bobbi Jo Cornetti, development coordinator with the BC3 Education Foundation.
Students registered for fall 2024 academic courses can apply online for a scholarship from the BC3 Education Foundation now through July 1.
BC3 created the Nursing, R.N., program at BC3 @ Brockway in 2018 to address a regional shortage of nurses in the North Central Workforce Development Area and to save students an otherwise 160-mile roundtrip from Brockway to attend the program on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township.
BC3 @ Brockway has graduated 48 Nursing, R.N., students in four years.
Its 13-member Class of 2023 in Nursing, R.N., included seven students who participated in Penn Highlands Healthcare’s tuition assistance program.
BC3 has been ranked as the No. 1 community college in Pennsylvania nine times since 2015, most recently for 2024 by BestColleges.com.
The college’s summer session begins May 13 and its fall semester, Aug. 26.
