(Butler, PA) The most-recent survey conducted by an Iowa company with Butler County Community College students shows the college receiving increasingly higher marks in all 12 areas examined, “areas which are keys to students, not only to satisfaction, but to enjoyment and success,” a BC3 administrator said.
The Ruffalo Noel Levitz student satisfaction inventory “covers students’ experience in the classroom. The quality of teaching and instruction. It covers the quality of advising. The quality of services and financial aid. It even covers things like the quality of the buildings and grounds,” said Dr. Case Willoughby, BC3’s vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.
“To different extents, all of these things correlate to how successful a student is, and to how likely that student is to finish their experience crossing a stage with a degree in hand.”
Prospective students can begin to experience BC3 during open houses in five western Pennsylvania counties in March, April and May, the college’s director of admissions said.
“All of BC3’s facilities are absolutely beautiful,” Morgan Rizzardi said. “I think prospective students start to envision themselves as a BC3 student once they see our locations and how BC3 takes so much pride in making sure that we are a 21st-century learning facility.”
Open houses will be held in Armstrong County at BC3 @ Armstrong, in Butler County on BC3’s main campus and at BC3 @ Cranberry, in Jefferson County at BC3 @ Brockway, in Lawrence County at BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing and in Mercer County at BC3 @ LindenPointe.
“All of BC3’s facilities are absolutely beautiful. I think prospective students start to envision themselves as a BC3 student once they see our locations ..."
BC3 will waive its $25 application fee for prospective students who apply for admission at an open house. Prospective students can RSVP at apply.BC3.edu/open-house.
Prospective students at a BC3 open house can tour classrooms and facilities, review the cost of attendance and financial aid options, learn about support services, student activities and student life – and meet faculty and staff.
“They are very welcoming”
Veda Reiser, of Saxonburg, attended a BC3 open house in the spring before she graduated from Knoch High School in 2019.
“They’re very welcoming,” she said. “They want you to be here. They are super-committed to your learning and giving you the best experience.”
Reiser enrolled at BC3 in summer 2019 and plans to graduate in May.
BC3’s faculty and staff put students “at the center of everything we do,” Rizzardi said, “and coming to an open house allows prospective students to get a sense of that.”
Visitors to a BC3 open house can learn about associate degrees in two-year career programs and in two-year transfer programs, and certificates in programs that take one year or less to complete.
“Prospective students may be intimidated by the thought of college. At an open house they get a chance to meet some of the faculty and tour the facilities. Knowing better what to expect can help them to look forward to school and get excited about it.”
BC3 offers 35 career programs in which students can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation. The college also offers 19 transfer programs and 24 certificate or workplace certificate programs.
Kristine Allen is a BC3 instructor and coordinator of three career programs in the college’s liberal arts division.
“Prospective students may be intimidated by the thought of college,” Allen said. “At an open house they get a chance to meet some of the faculty and tour the facilities. Knowing better what to expect can help them to look forward to school and get excited about it.”
Approximately 60 percent of BC3 students this spring are enrolled in transfer programs, according to Sharla Anke, the college’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.
“We are just so much more affordable”
Debbie Kane is a BC3 professor and coordinator of a transfer program in the college’s business division. She also teaches courses at two universities.
“We are just so much more affordable than the four-year schools,” Kane said. “If you are going to them versus going to BC3, you are getting the same person. I try to use the same books. It’s the same courses.”
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.
“That’s one of the reasons I chose BC3 because a lot of people come out debt-free.”
Seventy percent of BC3’s Class of 2021 graduated debt-free.
“That’s one of the reasons I chose BC3 because a lot of people come out debt-free,” said Jaela Yohe, of Butler, who plans to graduate debt-free in May. “It’s not expensive. … I think it’s extremely lucky that I had the opportunity to get scholarships.”
The BC3 Education Foundation anticipates awarding more than $230,000 in named scholarships in 2022-2023.
“I went to an open house, and I liked it here,” Yohe said. “The price is what really reeled me in though. I was thinking, ‘Do I really want to go to a bigger campus and get in debt, or do I want to stay local, finish my degree, and worry about the rest later? And that’s what I chose.”
Tuition and fees for face-to-face classes this spring for BC3 students from Butler County cost $172 per credit and for BC3 students from Pennsylvania counties other than Butler, $275 per credit.
Tuition and fees for face-to-face classes this spring for Pennsylvania residents at regional public four-year universities cost between $437 and $504 per credit, and at regional state-related universities between $572 and $1,170 per credit.
“BC3 has a lot of opportunities”
BC3 students can apply credits earned toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
Ruffalo Noel Levitz, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, administers a student satisfaction inventory at BC3 every three years, most recently in 2020. The college received the results in 2021.
“I think the instructors that I have had have been excellent.”
Reiser and Yohe echo results of the student satisfaction inventory, as do Jonathan Brake, Lily Keller and Kassandra Smith – BC3 students who plan to graduate in May.
“I think the instructors that I have had have been excellent,” said Brake, of Kittanning. “Very helpful, no matter what subject. … The campus itself is just very accessible, has resources such as tutoring. … It’s very student-friendly. You have access to computers if you don’t have that at home. It’s very accessible for students.”
Keller, of Sandy Lake, drives nearly one hour to reach BC3’s main campus for classes.
“But it is honestly worth it,” Keller said.
“… BC3 has a lot of opportunities. They have a lot of different sports that you can go into, different clubs. Obviously, your different majors. Everybody on campus, all the instructors, even just the faculty, everybody is super-nice, super-helpful. They always do fun things where they’ll have like fundraisers or they’ll have just like stand settings up where they will give you free food or like ice cream days and stuff.
“And I just feel like that it’s good to actually be involved in the campus and not just go here. They actually get involved.”
“BC3 has a great community,” said Smith, of Butler. “We have a lot going on for us. We have a lot of great resources. … The resources that this community college has to offer is one of the biggest reasons I chose it.”
BC3’s spring 2022 open houses will be held at:
BC3 @ Armstrong, 104 Armstrong St., Ford City: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 29.
BC3 Main Campus, 107 College Drive, Butler: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 5. A health care programs information session will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing, 2849 W. State St., New Castle: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. April 13.
BC3 @ Cranberry, 250 Executive Drive, Cranberry Township: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 21.
BC3 @ Brockway, 1200 Wood St., Brockway: 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 26. A nursing information session will be held at 5 p.m.
BC3 @ LindenPointe, 3182 Innovation Drive, Hermitage: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 4.
