(Butler, PA) Butler County Community College will offer 172 courses in summer 2022 sessions and Fast Tracks that follow those in which guest students transferred nearly 900 of BC3’s affordable credits to other institutions of higher education in states such as Alabama, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
BC3 has scheduled three sessions and two five-week Fast Tracks for summer 2022.
Session 1, Session 2 and Fast Track 1 begin May 16. Session 1 lasts four weeks and Session 2, 12 weeks.
Session 3 starts June 13 and lasts eight weeks; Fast Track 2 begins June 27.
BC3 students and guest students can take face-to-face classes on BC3’s main campus, or at its additional locations of BC3 @ Armstrong near Ford City, Armstrong County; BC3 @ Brockway in Brockway, Jefferson County; BC3 @ Cranberry in Cranberry Township, Butler County; BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing, New Castle, Lawrence County; and BC3 @ LindenPointe, Hermitage, Mercer County.
The college will offer 75 courses in online or hybrid formats. Most Fast Track courses are online.
Current, new, transfer, guest and returning students can learn more at bc3.edu/summer.
Nearly 230 guest students and 757 BC3 students attended BC3’s summer 2021 sessions and Fast Tracks, according to Becky Smith, college’s director of records and registration. Guest students earned 897 credits and BC3 students, 3,768.
Guest students transferred credits to institutions of higher education such as the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Adrian (Mich.) College; Manhattan College, Bronx, N.Y.; Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania; and West Virginia University.
“It’s not just limited to western Pennsylvania or Pennsylvania,” said Amy Pignatore, BC3’s dean of admissions and the college registrar. “We have students who go to out-of-state universities who also take summer classes here, the general education-type courses that will transfer to a four-year institution.”
“Our price point is better”
BC3’s selections in summer 2022 include calculus and analytical geometry II, college writing, drawing, descriptive chemistry, early U.S. history, financial accounting, general psychology, microeconomics and research writing.
BC3’s face-to-face, online and hybrid formats are attractive to guest students, Pignatore said, “and, of course, I think our price point is better.”
Tuition and fees for face-to-face courses this summer at BC3 cost $172 per credit for Butler County residents and $275 per credit for residents of other Pennsylvania counties.
Tuition and fees for face-to-face courses this summer at five regional public four-year universities range from $421.32 to $457.20 per credit for Pennsylvania residents.
Tuition and fees for online or hybrid courses at BC3 this summer cost $197 per credit for Butler County residents and $300 per credit for residents of other Pennsylvania counties.
Tuition and fees for online courses this summer at regional public four-year universities range from $374.20 to $457.20 per credit for Pennsylvania residents.
Tuition and fees this summer at BC3 for residents of other states cost $375 per credit for a face-to-face course and $400 per credit for an online course.
Guest students transferred 3, 6, 12 and 15 BC3 credits
Madison Paxson, 20, of Wellsville, Ohio, transferred three credits from an online business calculus course she took with BC3 in summer 2021 toward her pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in accounting at Youngstown State University.
Will Bayuk, 23, of Mars, transferred six credits from online business law and macroeconomics courses he took with BC3 in summer 2021 toward his pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in construction management at Kent State University.
Payton Cornetti, 19, of Butler, transferred 12 credits from online American national government, introduction to philosophy, macroeconomics and principles of sociology courses she took with BC3 in summer 2021 toward her pursuit of bachelor’s degrees in finance and in accounting at the University of Pittsburgh.
And Gram Hepner, 20, of Kittanning, transferred 15 credits from online general psychology, introduction to art, medical law and ethics, principles of sociology and recent U.S. history courses he took with BC3 in summer 2021 toward his pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering at Duquesne University.
Paxson needed business calculus to complete a prerequisite for classes she sought at Youngstown State in fall 2021.
“It was the beginning of summer, and it was really going to push me back for the fall semester,” Paxson said. “I didn’t want to wait any longer and was trying to get the course done.”
Because Youngstown State did not offer business calculus as a summer course, Paxson said, her adviser suggested she look elsewhere.
Paxson found BC3.
“BC3 was offering it online, and it just fit my needs,” Paxson said. “It was a little more expensive for me because I am from out of state, but I could afford it. It wasn’t an issue for me.”
“Pay out of pocket”
Business law and macroeconomics brought to four the number of courses Bayuk has taken during at BC3 in the summer.
“They all transferred,” Bayuk said. “It’s never been a problem. It’s like two forms to fill out. It’s super, super easy to do and it saves a lot of money. … That’s why I chose BC3. I was able to pay out of pocket for my BC3 classes. With Kent State, I have never been able to do that.”
“That’s one thing in the back of my head. I had just spent who knows what on my spring semester. And then the summer came and I had to spend only like $1,000 for two of my classes. Sounds pretty good. It kind of makes me wish I did two years there at BC3, two years here. I would have saved close to half the money.”
Cornetti graduated from Butler Area Senior High School in 2021.
“I wanted to get ahead on my credits so I could have time to participate in extra-curriculars and ease into my first semester,” said Cornetti, a freshman at Pitt and a member of women in business and ballet clubs, and of a professional co-ed business fraternity. “And it also saved me money in the long run.”
Cornetti researched BC3 credits that would transfer to Pitt’s main campus, she said.
“It was so easy to find,” Cornetti said. “It came up right away. It listed all the BC3 classes and what they would transfer as to Pitt. Then I called and checked with my adviser, just to double-check that everything would transfer smoothly. And that’s really all I had to do.”
"It kind of makes me wish I did two years there at BC3, two years here. I would have saved close to half the money.”
BC3 has “broad range of options”
Hepner said he researched BC3 credits that would transfer to Duquesne, and was impressed by BC3’s affordability.
“The most obvious factor was the savings,” Hepner said, “because I think I had paid about $5,000 for five courses at BC3. Elsewhere it would have been $3,000 per course. That’s a great difference. I double-checked with my adviser to make sure all the classes I wanted were able to be transferred to Duquesne as well.”
Hepner said he was also impressed by “BC3’s broad range of options. It’s not like I had just these five classes that my adviser said would work. She said, ‘Oh, these six classes would meet your history requirement.’ Then I was able to research the classes at BC3 to see which ones most interested me, and then I took it.”
"It’s not like I had just these five classes that my adviser said would work. She said, ‘Oh, these six classes would meet your history requirement.’ Then I was able to research the classes at BC3 to see which ones most interested me, and then I took it.”
BC3 will offer face-to-face courses during Session 1 on its main campus, and at BC3 @ Cranberry, BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing and BC3 @ LindenPointe.
Face-to-face courses will be offered during BC3’s Session 2 on the college’s main campus, and at BC3 @ Brockway, BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing and BC3 @ LindenPointe.
BC3 will offer face-to-face courses during Session 3 on its main campus and at all of its additional locations.
