SLIPPERY ROCK - It's a rare situation to have a state university and a community college in the same county.

Yet that's what exists in Butler County with Slippery Rock University and Butler County Community College sharing a territory and sometimes sharing students.

"We have to work together," said Robert Lagnese, the assistant director of admissions at SRU on Wednesday during a guidance advisory committee meeting at SRU.

The committee brings together representatives from Slippery Rock High School and colleges to discuss issues that affect high school students at school and their transition to higher education.

A new program called Making the Link will allow students attending BC3 and SRU to have a seamless transition between the two schools, Lagnese said. He will introduce the program to county high school students this fall.

While Lagnese admitted his main job is to recruit students for SRU, he said there are many advantages to attending BC3. For example, some students need a transition from high school to a larger university, and some can save money by attending BC3 before going to a four-year university, he said.

"We want to encourage (high school) juniors and seniors to get information up front about how courses transfer and avoid disappointment with credits that don't transfer," he said.

Lagnese said 120 of the transfer students who come each year to SRU come from BC3.

"That's one-fifth of all transfer students," he added.

Joe Manno, a committee member and Slippery Rock High School senior, said many of his peers still don't know whether they'll attend college. Making the Link gives them one more option to think about going to the community college and then transferring credits to SRU.

"It's definitely a great idea," he said.

The program also will help students who may not have high Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and so decide to attend BC3 to get their college careers started, said Jen Badgett, a sophomore.

"A lot of people think it's a happy medium, so the step between high school and college isn't so big," she said.