(Hermitage, PA) Prospective students can learn about BC3 @ LindenPointe’s career and transfer programs, about the transferability of its credits and its affordability compared to Pennsylvania’s public four-year and state-related institutions during a fall open house Nov. 9.
BC3 @ LindenPointe’s open house is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 3182 Innovation Way, Hermitage.
BC3 @ LindenPointe will waive the $25 application fee for prospective students who apply for admission at the open house. Prospective students can RSVP at apply.BC3.edu/open-house.
Guests attending BC3 @ LindenPointe’s open house can also learn about instructional formats, support services and student activities; tour classrooms and facilities, and review financial aid opportunities and tuition.
BC3 @ LindenPointe offers associate degrees in four career programs in which students can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation. It also offers
11 transfer programs, and a certificate in marketing management that takes one year or less to complete.
BC3 @ LindenPointe’s selection of two-year career programs includes business management, emergency services-police services option, health care science and human resource management.
BC3 @ LindenPointe’s menu 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.
Approximately 60 percent of BC3 students this fall are enrolled in transfer programs, according to Sharla Anke, BC3’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.
BC3 @ LindenPointe students can apply credits earned toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
Students who complete a BC3 @ LindenPointe degree in business administration, communications, computer science, criminology, early childhood education (Pre K-4), psychology or 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.
Community college students can save about $20K
Students who attend a community college for their first two years can save an estimated $20,000 on the cost of higher education, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.
Tuition and fees for face-to-face classes this fall for BC3 students from Mercer County cost $280 per credit.
The most recent tuition and fees published by regional public four-year universities cost between $437.23 and $532.81 per credit for Pennsylvania residents for an in-person class. Tuition and fees for Pennsylvania residents attending regional state-related institutions’ branch campuses this fall cost between $582 and $734 per credit for an in-person class.
The average student-loan debt for Pennsylvania’s Class of 2019 was $38,521, according to a January report in LendEDU, a website that provides comparisons for loans, credit cards and other financial products.
Nearly 60 percent of BC3’s Class of 2022 graduated debt-free.
BC3 @ LindenPointe’s affordability “phenomenal”
Scott Smith, of Sharpsville, has been a paramedic for more than 30 years. He worked 15 years in Palm Beach County, Fla., then six years as a civilian contractor for the military in Afghanistan. Upon his return to Mercer County, Smith enrolled at a state-related university’s branch campus, then at BC3 @ LindenPointe.
“The price,” Smith, 53, said about BC3 @ LindenPointe, “was so much better. I could take a full load for the price of a couple of classes (offered at the state-related university’s branch campus).”
Smith graduated from BC3 @ LindenPointe in spring 2018 with an associate degree in general studies. He intends to graduate from BC3 @ LindenPointe in summer 2023 with an associate degree in health care science.
He graduated debt-free from BC3 in 2018. He expects to do so again in 2023.
“It’s phenomenal,” he said of BC3 @ LindenPointe’s affordability. “It’s just something that I don’t have to worry about. Farther down the road, it’s not something that is hanging over my head.”
Smith intends to transfer to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania to pursue a bachelor’s degree in public health toward his goal of becoming a physician’s assistant.
"The price was so much better. I could take a full load for the price of a couple of classes (offered at the state-related university’s branch campus).”
Smith intends to transfer to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania to pursue a bachelor’s degree in public health toward his goal of becoming a physician’s assistant.
“What I thought I knew before turns out to be very little compared to what I have learned since then at BC3. The education that I have received has been great. I’ve learned so much. The classes here have been more in depth. They’ve just been better classes all-around.”
BC3’s student-to-faculty ratio is 11:1.
“You feel more free to ask questions,” Smith said. “With the smaller classes, the professors are definitely able to take the time and answer the questions. And a lot of the other students probably have the same questions. It makes it a much better learning environment.”
BC3 Education Foundation awards record $280K
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.
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 @ LindenPointe can also finish associate degrees in medical assistant; Nursing, R.N.; physical therapist assistant; or in technical trades-massage therapy management option on BC3’s main campus. They can also finish certificates in massage therapy, medical assistant or in practical nursing on BC3’s main campus.
