The official opening of Butler County Community College’s new location in Lawrence County, featured in the Monday, July 21, edition of the Butler Eagle, highlighted a stark reality facing higher education institutions statewide — lower enrollment.

Normally, a new location would be sign of growth. However, in the case of the new BC3 @ Lawrence building in New Castle, it’s a sign of contraction.

The new facility is smaller than the college’s former site in the county at Lawrence Crossing, near the New Castle Municipal Airport and for good reason. At it’s peak in 2011, BC3 @ Lawrence served about 550 students. Today, it serves about 100.

The decision to move reflects that reality. The building is less than half the size of the previous location, 8,000 square feet compared to 25,000. It’s also about half the cost to lease than the previous location.

The move follows the school’s announcement in March that it was discontinuing in-person programs at it’s Lindenpointe location in Mercer County.

BC3 is not alone.

Earlier this year, Penn State announced it would be closing seven branch campuses across the state in response to shrinking enrollment by the end of the 2026-27 school year. Those seven campuses only have an enrollment of about 3,000 students combined, or an average of just under 430 each.

Megan Coval, BC3 president, has previously described Pennsylvania as facing an “enrollment cliff,” with shrinking numbers of traditional, 18-year-old students entering college. She framed the move to a smaller location as the organization adapting to changing realities.

“It’s about more than opening a new location. It’s about reimagining what higher education access can look like,” Coval said at the opening ceremony Wednesday, July 16.

While shrinking enrollment and reduced opportunity for in-person courses can hardly be framed as a good thing; BC3’s commitment to adapting to maintain a presence in communities where it can and continue to provide the education opportunities circumstances allow — especially in underserved areas — is commendable.

— JP