McHayla Hoffman gives a hug to her adult literacy instructor Rhiannon Baron at the graduation Wednesday for those seeking their high school equivalency diplomas.

The Butler County Community College's free adult literacy program graduated 60 students from Butler and Mercer counties on Wednesday with high school equivalency diplomas.

BC3 is the primary provider of Pennsylvania Department of Education-funded high school equivalency courses in Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties — and this year's graduating class is the largest in a decade, according to Barb Gade, director of the 33-year-old adult literacy program.

The graduates include Shadalyn A. Bookhamer of Butler. The 21-year-old left Slippery Rock Area High School during her junior year in 2016.

“I took a year of cyber school and I couldn't keep up with it, so I ended up repeating the grade,” Bookhamer said. “When I went back into public school I had a hard time readjusting and had to repeat the year again, and decided I would drop out and get my GED.”

Gade said nearly 400 students, some as senior as 72 years old, have received diplomas through BC3's adult literacy program in Butler and Mercer counties in the past 11 years.

The median average weekly salary in 2017 for those who have not achieved a high school diploma was $520, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The salary for those with a high school diploma but no college credits, $712, and for those with an associate degree, $836.

“Not only will their earnings increase with a diploma, but their confidence as well,” Gade said. “By getting their high school diploma, they now see new possibilities for their lives, whether it is to go on to post-secondary education and training, or getting a job that has a future.”