(Butler, PA) Butler County Community College in December will offer for the first time courses in calculus and analytic geometry I, college writing and contemporary world history in a five-week online Winter Session whose enrollment among BC3 and guest students has increased 259 percent since 2017.
Students attending BC3 or other colleges and universities can register now at bc3.edu/winter for the college’s fifth Winter Session, which has a selection of 20 courses and is set for Dec. 13 to Jan. 18.
BC3 and guest students from Butler County can save at least $531.60 for each three-credit online BC3 Winter Session course compared with tuition and fees for December-January online sessions at regional public four-year institutions. BC3 and guest students from other Pennsylvania counties can save $222.60 for each three-credit BC3 Winter Session course.
“I think economically students are doing a lot more shopping around to find the best quality for the most affordable price.”
BC3’s credits transfer to public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
Sixty-four BC3 and guest students attended BC3’s first Winter Session in 2017-2018, said Becky Smith, the college’s associate director of records and registration. That number in 2020-2021 increased to 230, which included students from 20 Pennsylvania counties and from two other states, Smith said.
In addition to its three new courses, BC3’s 2021-2022 Winter Session will offer for the fifth time general psychology, human growth and development, intermediate algebra, introduction to art and principles of management.
“Always very popular during the Winter Session,” said Amy Pignatore, BC3’s dean of admissions and the college’s registrar.
Also popular, Pignatore said, is BC3’s affordability.
“I think economically students are doing a lot more shopping around to find the best quality,” Pignatore said, “for the most affordable price.”
Tuition and fees per credit for students from Pennsylvania taking an online winter session course at regional public four-year institutions in the 2021-2022 academic year range from $374.20 to $422.20.
Tuition and fees for BC3’s 2021-2022 Winter Session cost $197 per credit for BC3 and guest students who live in Butler County, $300 per credit for BC3 and guest students who live in other Pennsylvania counties and $400 for students who live outside of Pennsylvania.
“Very affordable,” said Cheyenne Freehling, of Chicora.
“Definitely more affordable,” said Marissa Duddy, of New Castle.
“... you shouldn’t have to pay a ton of money ...”
Freehling, 20, attended BC3’s 2020-2021 Winter Session and transferred three credits to Penn State Behrend in Erie and Duddy, 26, six to Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
“I feel like you shouldn’t have to pay a ton of money to get an education,” Freehling added.
“I don’t want to be in crazy student-loan debt,” Duddy added.
Freehling took introduction to art during BC3’s 2020-2021 Winter Session and Duddy, introduction to art and introduction to music.
Freehling, a former plastics engineering technology student who plans to enroll at BC3 in the spring semester to pursue an associate degree in engineering.
“It was a general studies class, and I could transfer the credits to Penn State,” said Freehling, a former plastics engineering technology student who plans to enroll at BC3 in the spring semester to pursue an associate degree in engineering.
Duddy graduated debt-free from BC3 in 2019 with an associate degree in business administration. The six credits she earned during BC3’s 2020-2021 Winter Session helped her to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in industry accounting in May at Clarion.
“I don’t want to be in crazy student-loan debt.”
BC3’s Winter Session courses have the same requirements and expectations as a full-term course.
“You can work at your own pace,” Duddy said, “but you have to be very disciplined.”
Said Freehling: “It’s a little difficult. The course is a lot shorter. But as long as you keep on track, and do all of your work, you will do great.”
Open enrollment for BC3’s 2021-2022 Winter Session is under way and closes at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 13.
BC3’s spring semester begins Jan. 18 with a 15-week Session 1 and a five-week online Fast Track 1.
The college’s 10-week Session 2 begins Feb. 14. Fast Track 2 starts Feb. 21 and Fast Track 3, April 4.
For a complete selection of BC3’s Winter Session courses, visit bc3.edu/winter
