Air Force veteran Samuel Alden, 60, of New Castle, holds a commendation he received for saving the life of an Army paratrooper who was tangled outside a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft 2,000 feet over Alaska in 1990. Alden, shown March 1 on BC3's main campus in Butler Township, earned an associate degree in history from BC3 at Lawrence Crossing in New Castle in 2020. BC3 has been designated as a Military Friendly School for the sixth time since 2013 by Viqtory, a military marketing company.

Sam Alden, 60, of New Castle, had retired from the Air Force after serving for 24 years but wanted to stay active and keep his mind busy.

In 2017, Alden enrolled at Butler County Community College to pursue a degree in history, wanting to ease himself in to a new educational endeavor. He said his experience as a veteran student at the school was more positive than he had expected.

“I think BC3 is very receptive,” Alden said. “Everyone that I ever asked anything of has been helpful. There’s never a problem with your paperwork, and as far as the teachers, they all understand your situation and are all helpful.”

Alden graduated from BC3 with his associate degree in history, and is attending Slippery Rock University for his bachelor’s degree in history.

Butler County Community College and Slippery Rock University have been recognized as military-friendly schools by military marketing company Viqtory.

BC3 earned the “Military Friendly” recognition, while Slippery Rock earned a gold ranking, meaning it is in the top 162 schools in the nation for leading practices, outcomes and programs.

Stella Smith, veterans coordinator and associate director of financial aid at BC3, said Friday that the school offers priority registration to veterans and a special orientation day for them. The college will also offer a free noncredit class called “Veteran Suicide: Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s Business,” beginning March 10, according to a news release.

Additionally, the school created a veterans lounge in 2013, which Smith said gave military students a place to unwind or meet with other campus veterans.

“I’ve had veterans tell me that they left the classroom and ended up in the men’s room, and it wasn’t a good place for them,” Smith said. “That’s when we came up with the student veterans lounge in 2013, which we dedicated on Veterans Day.”

A news release from Slippery Rock says the university exceeded Viqtory’s standards in culture, commitment, admissions, orientation, academic policies and compliance.

Amber Korcok, the management technician in the school’s admissions office who oversees veterans benefits, said in the news release that the school focuses on helping veterans during their transition in or out of the service.

“We recognize the sacrifices made by these students and the value of higher education for them as they have transitions to and from civilian life,” she said.

Viqtory’s website says the organization used public data sources and a proprietary survey to evaluate schools for the list. More than 1,200 schools participated in the survey, and about 750 schools earned a designation. Eighteen people with backgrounds in military or military programs make up an advisory council that evaluates participating schools in six categories, including academic policies and compliance, admissions and orientation, culture and commitment, financial aid and assistance, graduation and career outcomes, and military student support and retention.

Slippery Rock’s news release said there are 100 students at SRU who identify as veterans, and more than 250 who identify as military-affiliated students. Smith said BC3 has 72 veteran students, but it has had as many as 120 in one semester. One current military student is David Pintell, an Army veteran attending BC3 for an associate degree in computer information systems-computer support specialist. In a news release from the college, Pintell said the school not only cares about veterans, but also consistently helps them in their schoolwork and student life.

“At BC3, it doesn’t feel like anyone is left behind,” Pintell said. “The love that BC3 shows for all their students, it’s unique.”

Smith believes many veterans choose to attend community colleges because they are more small-scale, which makes getting acclimated to civilian life more manageable. She also said the veterans she works with are some of her favorite people on campus.

Alden said BC3 helped him get adjusted to the college atmosphere and workload, and he is now doing well at Slippery Rock.

“I went there because I thought it would be a little bit easier, and that it might prepare me for Slippery Rock,” Alden said. “I used it to get back into it. Now as far as how hard the classes are, they’re about the same.”