Prospective students next week can apply free for admission to Butler County Community College, discover how to minimize or avoid higher education debt and prepare to christen the college’s new facility in Lawrence County.
The college will waive its $25 application fee at its final open house at BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing, 2849 W. State St., Union Township. The open house is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 2. Prospective students can RSVP at bc3.edu/open-house
The college will rename and move its additional location in Lawrence County this fall to BC3 @ Lawrence, 2658 Ellwood Road, Shenango Township.
“A win-win on so many levels”
Students attending BC3 @ Lawrence, located in the Shenango Commons plaza, can patronize nearby restaurants, a pickleball court, a multi-vendor marketplace, gymnastics and fitness centers and a credit union, Sean Carroll said.
“It’s just a win-win on so many levels,” said Carroll, director of BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing since 2016. “There are going to be way more opportunities for our students, from being in a new facility and everything that brings, as well as having things to do when they are not in class.”
Immediately behind Shenango Commons is the 35-acre Shenango Township Community Park, which features picnic pavilions, a walking trail, and volleyball, tennis and bocce courts.
The 8,554-square-foot facility will feature a student lounge and technology bar near its entrance, up to five classrooms and a conference room, according to Brian Opitz, BC3’s executive director of operations. BC3 @ Lawrence also has an additional 3,571 square feet of space reserved at the rear of the building for possible expansion.
“There’s going to be some energy in there,” Opitz said. “When you walk in you will see those highlight walls, which will be painted in BC3 blue. Branding is important in college buildings. With the colors and the logos and the information TVs, it is going to be an active and comfortable facility.”
The building will also include a high, exposed ceiling in public areas, Opitz said.
15 programs to include 7 of BC3’s most popular
BC3 @ Lawrence will offer seven associate degree career programs, seven associate degree transfer programs and a certificate program in a fall semester that begins Aug. 25.
Students in BC3 @ Lawrence’s career and certificate programs can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation. BC3 @ Lawrence’s credits can be transferred toward a bachelor’s degree at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
BC3 @ Lawrence will offer health care science, business management and accounting, which are among BC3’s top five associate degree career programs, according to Dr. Sharla Anke, BC3’s dean of institutional effectiveness.
It will also offer general studies, business administration, psychology and early childhood education (Pre K-4), which are among the college’s top five associate degree transfer programs, according to Anke.
BC3 @ Lawrence is the college’s only additional location to offer career programs in accounting, human resource management, office administration-medical and technical trades-cosmetology management option. Its career programs range from 60 to 66 credits and include office administration-executive.
It is also the only of BC3’s additional locations to offer a transfer program in history. BC3 @ Lawrence’s transfer programs range from 60 to 62 credits and include criminology and social work.
Students at BC3 @ Lawrence this fall can also pursue a 32-credit medical coding and billing specialist certificate.
Construction of BC3 @ Lawrence in Shenango Commons is shown Tuesday, March 25, 2025. The facility housing Butler County Community College’s additional location in Lawrence County will open Aug. 25. BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing, 2849 W. State St., Union Township, will hold its final open house April 2.
Tuition, fees $600 to $15K less per semester
Tuition and fees for 15 credits taken through in-person courses this fall at BC3 @ Lawrence are projected to cost $4,650, according to Jake Friel, the college’s vice president for administration and finance.
Tuition and fees for a full-time student for one semester at public or private four-year colleges and universities in Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties range from at least $5,253 to $19,735, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
“We offer not only a quality education, but it is going to be less expensive than any of our counterparts,” Carroll said. “I have great respect for our counterparts and the education they provide, but we are able to do it at a much more affordable rate for students. I see that as a great selling point for us.”
Residents of Pennsylvania counties other than Butler who attend BC3 @ Lawrence in the 2025-2026 academic year can receive up to $11,821 in federal and state grants, according to Juli Louttit, the college’s director of student financial services.
The BC3 Education Foundation in the 2024-2025 academic year awarded 158 scholarships to BC3 students ranging from $500 to $5,000, according to Bobbi Jo Cornetti, the foundation’s development coordinator. Registered students beginning April 15 can apply for a scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year at bc3.edu/scholarships.
Sixty-eight percent of BC3’s Class of 2024 graduated debt free, according to Louttit.
BC3 established its Lawrence County location in 1989 within the Lawrence County Area Vocational-Technical School in Shenango Township, and also held classes in the Lawrence County Learning Center in New Castle before moving in 2008 to Union Township.
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