BC3’s College Within the High School program sets records
Butler County Community College’s 25-year-old College Within the High School program has set a records in enrollment, in seats occupied and in credits pursued, according to coordinator of news and media content Bill Foley.
The program this spring enrolls 509 high school sophomores through seniors occupying 696 seats and pursuing 2,034 credits.
The previous record for enrollment was 507 in the fall 2020 semester. The previous record for seats occupied, 650, and for credits pursued, 1,911, were set in fall 2022.
This spring, the students are taking reduced-cost courses at 16 high schools or learning centers in Butler, Armstrong, Clarion, Clearfield, Jefferson, Lawrence and Mercer counties.
“Seniors last year … recommended the program to me and they said it would set me on the right track for college next year,” said Lily Hillard, who intends to graduate this spring from Butler Area High School. She will have 14 credits through BC3’s College Within the High School program.
“I am so thankful I listened,” she said.
Dual enrollment and early college have demonstrated their effectiveness as strategies for high school graduation, postsecondary attainment, higher education affordability and student debt-reduction, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.
BC3’s College Within the High School credits can be applied toward BC3 associate degrees or certificates, or toward bachelor’s degrees at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.
“It’s a phenomenal jump-start to go into your freshman year of college with this experience, with these credits in hand, with being able to lighten a credit load and to save money,” said Nick Neupauer, president of BC3. “It is resonating now more than ever before.”
In the past 10 years, enrollment in BC3’s College Within the High School program has increased by 66%, seats occupied by 74.9% and credits pursued by 95.9 percent.
A three-credit College Within the High School program course this spring ranges from $405 to $429, depending on the county in which the high school is located.
Only residents of seven other states have average monthly student-loan payments higher than do Pennsylvanians with $216.38, according to an April 5 report by LendEDU, a website that provides comparisons for loans, credit cards and other financial products.
“Folks are becoming more fiscally responsible, looking at costs,” said Amy Pignatore, BC3’s dean of admissions and the college’s registrar. “That, and the ease of transferring the credits, adds to the success of the program.”
BC3’s program offers 21 courses that include business law, contemporary world history, elementary statistics, and microeconomics and principles of sociology, which Brady Hurley is taking.
“I wanted to learn a valuable curriculum while jump-starting my post-high school career with transferrable credits,” said Hurley, a senior at Lenape Technical School in Ford City.
“BC3’s course has already prepared me for the future. Since I am taking sociology, I am gathering a lot of knowledge on people as well as groups. The studies we view, statistics we examine and projects we do have given me a look into the world past my area, and have prepared me for what to expect once I’m presented with brand-new experiences.”
The syllabus and instructional materials used in BC3’s College Within the High School courses are the same as those for courses taught at a BC3 location.
Sixteen-year-old Graeme Wolf said he “took speech, specifically, to get more comfortable with public speaking in a classroom of my peers.”
The junior at Mars said he is also “mindful of the cost of college and CHS classes are a great way to get a college experience at a very affordable rate. … I got a taste for the rigor of college courses in the comfort of my high school. I feel more prepared to enter college now.”
