Online Sessions Thru November To Benefit BC3, Guest Students

(Butler, PA) Three additional start dates through November will provide Butler County Community College students the opportunity to add credits in as few as five weeks through fully online classes, a BC3 administrator said, and guest students a chance to save at least $230 for a three-credit course.

BC3’s 10-week Session 2 begins Sept. 21, and will be followed by 5-week Fast Track sessions starting Sept. 28 and Nov. 2.

“Start it later, get it done quicker,” Amy Pignatore, BC3’s dean of admissions and the college registrar, said of BC3’s additional fall start dates.

“And because the courses are online,” Pignatore said, “students can take them from anywhere.”

More than 330 guest students earned 1,424 credits during BC3’s summer Sessions 1, 2 and 3 – which lasted four, 12 and eight weeks, respectively – and two Fast Track sessions, according to Sharla Anke, BC3’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning.

At least 915 BC3 students earned 4,676 credits during BC3’s three summer sessions, held in online or in remote formats.

Guest students can transfer BC3 credits

Tuition and fees per credit for BC3 students from Butler County taking an online course in the 2020-2021 academic year are $195, and for BC3 students from other Pennsylvania counties, $295. An additional $35 lab fee may be charged for certain courses.

Tuition and fees per credit for students from Pennsylvania taking an online course at regional public four-year institutions in the 2020-2021 academic year range from $374.20 to $458.20.

“If you are going to take an online class, why not take it at a lower cost when you know the courses are fully accredited and the credits transfer?” Pignatore said. “Why would you take it at that higher rate?”

BC3 is accredited through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Guest students can transfer BC3 credits to public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.

BC3’s 486 outgoing transfer agreements with Pennsylvania public four-year universities are the third-most among the 14 institutions within the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, trailing only the Community College of Philadelphia and the nearby Bucks County Community College, which have 566.

Variety of courses available

BC3’s Session 2 offers online courses that include business mathematics, college algebra, college writing, introduction to art, introduction to business, introduction to music and research writing.

Fast Track 2 offers a selection of online courses that includes technical writing, world geography and general psychology. Fast Track 3 offers a menu of online courses that includes contemporary world history, elementary statistics and health science.

BC3 is also planning an online Winter Session that will begin Dec. 14.

For more information on BC3’s Session 2, and Fast Track 2 and Fast Track 3 sessions, visit bc3.edu/fall.