Transferring from BC3 increasingly more common
BUTLER TWP — Last spring, 186 Butler County Community College students transferred a number of credits to a four-year school without a BC3 degree. Another 101 transferred to a four-year school with an associate degree from the college in hand.
Each year, more and more students enter Butler County Community College with a plan to eventually transfer to a four-year institution, said Elizabeth Bowser, transfer coordinator and academic adviser at BC3.
Some students come to the college to pick up a handful of credits for another school. Others aim to earn an associate degree before moving on to spend two years more at what’s typically a four-year institution.
Bowser said college has agreements with some four-year institutions that allow students with select associate degrees to transfer with junior-level standing. These include schools within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and Penn State University. About 15 other schools also have specific programs available for students to transfer.
The approach students take depend on their goals — and the requirements of the school they hope to transfer the credits to.
“This is something I am really pushing and communicating to students this year, so that students understand and are able to utilize all transfer resources and agreements available,” Bowser said about transfer agreements. “I am hopeful that this effort helps boost the percentage of students who transfer with a degree.”
She noted that some transfer agreements the college has with other schools do require a student to get their associate degree first, to ensure the transfer of credits is valid.
One popular motivation for students to visit BC3, she said, is to get core classes out of the way.
“Even if they are coming in undecided, they can complete a general studies degree with us, transfer it to a PASSHE school, and that at least gets their core classes completed,” she said. “No student wants to take speech at Penn State University in a class of like 65 students.”
The community college has a Transfer Day each semester where representatives from colleges and universities gather in Founder’s Hall to provide information to students about their programs and how their credits can transfer.
Lizzie Lowery, who is in the biology program at BC3, and Liza Wick, who is in the English program, made their rounds at the April 1 fair, with each saying they did not yet have a plan of what school they wanted to transfer to.
“Just seeing the different options we have; I still have another year,” Lowery said of her interest in the Transfer Day fair.
Among the colleges in attendance were University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, Mercyhurst, Mount Aloysius College and Slippery Rock University, which is the number one university for BC3 transfers. Schools like Pitt and Penn State also had representatives from multiple campuses at the fair, giving students further options of where to pursue a four-year degree post-community college.
Robert Lagnese, director of transfer and readmission services and new student orientation at SRU, said the transfer agreements that exist between the two Butler County schools help drive students to the PASSHE school from the community college. He said the business, early childhood development, psychology and criminology programs at SRU are popular for BC3 students to transfer into, because students can opt to go for a master’s degree after completing base courses in community college.
“We are a transfer-intensive school,” Lagnese said. “Our goal is to enhance our existing partnerships by building a mentorship program that goes from BC3 to SRU.”
Langese and Emily Price, associate director of transfer articulation and readmission services at SRU, said the partnership between the two schools is also always evolving. Langese said the university focuses on building up programs for career paths that are “thriving in the region,” to give students who are indecisive about their major at BC3 some potential programs that will lead to a career after getting a bachelor’s degree.
“We’re bringing faculties together... to better serve students so they can make the best decision possible,” Langese said of transfer options to SRU.
Bowser said BC3, too, regularly makes new agreements with other institutions. She referenced a recent agreement made with UPMC School of Histology, which allows people to complete their health care science degree at BC3, and transfer into a UPMC program.
Another popular transfer destination is the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, which was represented at the Transfer Day fair. Bowser said the community college has some “informal agreements” with the institute, but many students have recently transferred to the school from BC3.
“I was shocked by how many students are coming in looking specifically for mortuary science,” Bowser said.
After earning an associate degree in psychology from BC3, Taylor Voloch, of West Sunbury, plans to transfer to SRU to continue her studies in psychology.
Voloch is set to get her degree in May, but technically graduated last semester. She is taking a few classes in the spring semester, and is a work study at BC3. She said that although she had an idea while at Moniteau High School of the career she wanted to pursue, the deal she got at BC3 was too good to pass up.
“I graduated in the top 10 percent of my class so I come here for free for two years, so I graduated high school and here I am,” Voloch said during the Transfer Day fair. “I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do out of high school, so this was a good place to get my general classes done.”
Voloch said her prior studies at BC3 also lets her ease up her course load once she gets to SRU, although she has the option to graduate early. Additionally, knocking her core classes out at BC3 opens her up to going to SRU for four years — not just two additional years for her bachelor’s degree.
“I'm going to take classes that go toward my Master’s Degree,” she said.
