(New Castle, PA) Seventy-five percent of Butler County Community College’s 464-member Class of 2023 graduated debt-free, including a 20-year-old Neshannock Township resident who completed the college’s most-popular transfer program with academic honors.
Liam Kosior earned an associate in science degree in business administration from BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing in New Castle in pursuit of his goal to become a sports agent.
The 2021 graduate of Neshannock Senior High School finished the 60-credit curriculum with a grade-point average between 3.5 and 3.74, achieved magna cum laude recognition and echoed respondents to a recent survey that indicated 97 percent of BC3 graduates would recommend the college to others.
“I was a person who wasn’t ready for the college life necessarily,” Kosior said. “I wanted to stay close to home. I knew I wouldn’t be ready to live on my own. I went to a smaller high school. I had smaller classes. And I liked that one-on-one connection that you got with your teachers.
“And BC3, especially Lawrence Crossing, does a great job with having that personal connection to your teachers. It was better than going to a school with 500 kids in a class. If I was struggling in the class, they would stay extra. You had someone to go to for that one-on-one help.”
“I challenged myself academically”
Approximately 60 percent of BC3 students this spring were enrolled in transfer programs, according to Sharla Anke, the college’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.
Business administration was the top transfer program in which BC3 conferred associate degrees during its 55th commencement May 17, according to Becky Smith, the college’s director of records and registration.
Kosior was a member of BC3’s 55-year-old Rho Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, an international academic honor society for two-year colleges and programs, and has been named to BC3’s president’s list or dean’s list since fall 2021.
“I challenged myself academically because I want to go into the field of accounting” toward becoming a sports agent, Kosior said.
“As a lot of people know, accounting is a very challenging field. So you can’t just expect to take classes and do the work at the last second. You have to be on time. You have to get your work done on time. You have to stay disciplined and stay focused.”
Kosior is a member of the college’s golf team that has qualified in consecutive years for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national championship tournament in Chautauqua, N.Y. He was chosen to the NJCAA Division III all-Region 20 tournament team in 2022 and in 2023.
He has been named three times to the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference fall or spring sports all-academic teams and was selected based on his achievements to represent BC3 at Community College Day in the state Capitol in April.
“It was a big goal of mine to graduate debt-free and to not carry that burden. A lot of people who I know who graduated from college have hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. And they have jobs that don’t pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
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.
Seventy-five percent of BC3’s Class of 2023 graduated debt-free, according to Juli Louttit, the college’s director of financial aid.
“It was a big goal of mine to graduate debt-free and to not carry that burden,” Kosior said. “A lot of people who I know who graduated from college have hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. And they have jobs that don’t pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. I figured if I were to go into a field like accounting, there is no need for me to go to a huge school and collect all this debt.”
Tuition and fees this spring at regional public four-year universities started at $437.23 per credit for Pennsylvania residents for an in-person course, and started at $374.20 for an online course.
Tuition and fees this spring for Pennsylvania residents attending regional state-related institutions’ branch campuses cost between $582 and $734 per credit for an in-person course, and started at $620 for an online course.
Tuition and fees this spring for Lawrence County residents attending BC3 cost $280 per credit for an in-person course and $305 for an online course.
Students can apply BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing credits toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
Kosior will transfer this fall to Youngstown State University in Ohio toward his goal of becoming a sports agent.
“Great time to get into the profession”
“I watch all types of sports,” Kosior said. “And with the new media rise in all these sports, it’s a great time to get into the profession of being a sports agent because of the opportunities and the amount of exposure that not only athletes get, but their agents get as well.”
Maryann Henley, of Edinburg, was the most-senior graduate in BC3’s Class of 2023 at 66 years and seven months. She earned an associate degree in BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing’s psychology transfer program and graduated cum laude, a distinction for those with a grade-point average between 3.25 and 3.49.
Kosior and Henley are among nearly 53 percent of the college’s Class of 2023 who graduated with honors.
BC3 has had at least 400 graduates each of the past 14 years.
The college’s fall semester begins Aug. 21.
