New Castle, PA – A 27-year-old full-time emergency medical technician, foster and stepmother and nondirected organ donor has long wanted to resume pursuit of a college degree.
That pursuit was brought to a halt in 2017, when Danyelle Kirby was no longer able to afford the costly regional private university she attended for two semesters.
The Ellwood City resident has since helped others, in becoming an EMT who works 40 hours per week with a Beaver County EMS provider and in raising foster and stepchildren ranging in age from 2 to 13.
It was BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing’s affordability, Kirby said about reviving her ambition to help herself, that drew her this fall to Butler County Community College’s additional location in Lawrence County.
“Everybody,” Kirby said, “is looking for the best results at the lowest cost. BC3 enabled me to take my education off the back burner and work toward getting it completed. The number one reason I chose BC3 was because of that low cost. BC3 put that well within reach.
“With having five kids and a whole household to sustain, and with the price of everything these days, BC3 made my return nice because the cost of education elsewhere is a huge deterrent.”
Prospective students can learn more about BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing’s affordability — and its associate degree and certificate programs, financial aid, scholarship opportunities and support services such as free tutoring — during an open house from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at 849 W. State St., New Castle.
BC3’s affordability, financial aid and scholarships enabled 68 percent of the college’s Class of 2024 to graduate debt-free.
BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing will waive its $25 application fee at the open house. Prospective students can RSVP at bc3.edu/open-house
Danyelle Kirby, of Ellwood City, is shown in August while working as an emergency medical technician for a Beaver County EMS provider. Kirby is a psychology student at BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing.
“I’m absolutely excited about the new space”
Open house visitors can also meet faculty and staff, tour the facility and learn about the move of BC3’s location in Lawrence County from Union Township to Shenango Commons in Shenango Township for the 2025-2026 academic year.
“I’m absolutely excited about the new space,” said Sean Carroll, director of BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing. “It’s months off, but I think students who come into the facility will be similarly impressed and realize this is a great place to continue their education. The constants, our affordability, our accessibility and our quality of education, will remain the same.”
BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing’s credits can be applied toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
Lawrence County residents attending BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing this fall are paying $300 per credit in tuition and fees for an in-person course.
They would pay at least $439.75 per credit in tuition and fees for an in-person course at a regional public four-year university or $569 at a regional state-related institution’s branch campus in 2024-2025.
Lawrence County residents attending BC3 can receive up to $11,626 in federal and state grants in 2024-2025, according to Juli Louttit, the college’s director of financial aid.
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.
Scholarship from BC3 “was a surprise. A pleasant one”
Kirby is a 2015 graduate of Ambridge Area High School. The middle of five children enrolled at the regional private university and took out student loans to pay for tuition and fees once funds from the scholarships she received were depleted.
Danyelle Kirby, of Ellwood City, is shown Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, in Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, after contributing more than 60 percent of her liver to a nonspecific recipient. Kirby is a psychology student at BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing in New Castle.
“My parents kind of walked me through the first year,” Kirby said, “and they said they couldn’t sign on anything else. They said I had other siblings who would be going to college. So I took a break.”
The BC3 Education Foundation has awarded 157 named scholarships for the 2024-2025 academic year to BC3 students from 11 western Pennsylvania counties and totaling $230,000, according to Bobbi Jo Cornetti, the foundation’s development coordinator.
Among recipients, Kirby.
She was chosen in July to receive the $780 BC3 Retiree Scholarship, awarded to a full-time student who has earned a grade-point average of at least 3.5 and has completed at least 30 credit hours.
“I was very happy to receive this being so far out of high school,” Kirby said. “It was a surprise. A pleasant one.”
The psychology student who intends to become a social worker who educates organ donors or recipients contributed more than 60 percent of her liver to a nonspecific recipient two weeks before she began classes at BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing in August.
“It was altruistic, anonymous,” Kirby said. “I did not know whether I would be able to sit for the duration of classes. It was a huge gamble. But I did not want to put my college career on hold.”
“The class size at BC3 is so nice”
In addition to BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing’s affordability, BC3’s 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio also influenced her decision to help herself, Kirby said.
“The small class sizes, I can’t stress that enough,” Kirby said. “That was something I was nowhere near and never experienced (at the regional private university). I was in a room easily with 40 to 50 people.
“There was no, ‘Hey, can you come over to my computer and help me with something?’ or ‘Can you take the time to explain this to me?’ That was just not the thing. …
“The class size at BC3 is so nice. Professors are able to give each of us individual help during the class itself.”
Kirby intends to graduate from BC3 in May with an associate degree and pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
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