BC3 assistance program helping more students than ever
BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College currently has 72 students enrolled in its Keystone Education Yields Success (KEYS) program — surpassing projections of its enrollment last fall, which totaled 60 students.
One of those students is Christie Denniston, a social work major from Butler, who is returning to school about 20 years after initially starting, thanks in part to assistance she gets from Butler County Human Services, and now the KEYS program.
Denniston said the KEYS program not only helps cover some expenses related to her education, its staff members are a resource for her to speak with for help at any time.
“I can come down at any point if I need a textbook or something; maybe it's more financially affordable for me to rent a book from them than it is to take it out of my grant funding or pay it out of my out-of-pocket,” Denniston said. “They helped me pay for my class fees as well so it didn't have to come out of my grant funding, which helped with my living at home.”
Jayme Steighner, KEYS program facilitator at BC3, said people can be referred to the program if they are enrolled in county assistance programs like SNAP, which is the case for Denniston. An individual has to be receiving county benefits to be enrolled in KEYS, so the college program has the same eligibility requirements as programs like SNAP.
Steighner said since she started in the role in February, she has been trying to spread the word about KEYS, because it is meant to be a pathway for people to get better opportunities through a college education.
“The goal is to get people to go to college to get them a better-paying job, which will result in them not needing the assistance,” Steighner said. “I think a lot of people just don't see themselves as a college student, but there is support for it. There is a possibility for them to kind of change the future of their lives and their family's lives by making that choice.”
The KEYS program offers students financial help for certain expenses relating to their college experience, like class fees, gas mileage reimbursement and even car repairs, Steighner said. Additionally, the office can provide students with rentals for items like textbooks, laptops and Wi-Fi hot spots, and Denniston said the program paid her dues for the Phi Theta Kappa honors society.
The college’s KEYS program is available on BC3’s main campus, at BC3 @ Armstrong in Ford City, BC3 @ Brockway in Brockway, BC3 @ Cranberry in Cranberry Township, BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing in New Castle and BC3 @ LindenPointe in Hermitage.
Steighner said she has found low self confidence to be a barrier to potential college students, alongside economic barriers that may keep them in financial aid programs. While increased income could knock an individual out of eligibility for county financial aid programs, Steighner said social aid, including college scholarships and the Federal Pell Grant Program, do not affect a person’s standing with KEYS.
Additionally, while there are more students than ever enrolled in KEYS, Steighner said the program is funded by the state and has plenty of funding left.
“They give you a big pot of money each year and you have to categorize it,” Steighner said. “There is no cap, I do think we're one of the community colleges with one of the highest (number of) students on record.”
Denniston said Steighner and the other staff members of the KEYS program have become her biggest cheerleaders at BC3. She said she has also been influenced by the KEYS office in her education to become a social worker, because it has helped her to further notice holes in social aid systems.
While she is attending college, Denniston is not working, which is possible for her thanks to her county financial aid, but it could be a tightrope walk because of the fine line between eligibility and ineligibility.
“When you try to progress yourself, you end up in a hole deeper than if you didn't progress yourself,” Denniston said. “You're darned if you do, darned if you don't. If you work, it's counted against you; if you don't work it's counted against you.”
Denniston also said she wants to raise awareness that BC3 and other community colleges have KEYS programs that help individuals make it through school, because education can be a ticket out of financial hardships. She added that she plans to advocate for education once she attains her goal of getting a career in social work.
“I see a gigantic need for that within our community,” Denniston said. “I really want to tailor what I'm learning toward prevention; learning why these individuals are in the place that they are within the systems and these battered homes to be able to figure out why they are there and help prevent that further.”
