BC3 approves reduced budget, raises tuition by $2 for 2026-27 school year
FORD CITY, Armstrong County — Butler County Community College’s board of trustees voted during their monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 17, to approve a reduced operating budget for the 2026-27 school year, as well as increase tuition and fees by $2 across the board.
The budget calls for an operating fund of $28.27 million, a decrease of 5.85% from the recently finished 2025-26 school year when the budget was set at just over $30 million.
According to Jake Friel, BC3’s vice president of administration & finance, the college is anticipating a decline in enrollment.
“There’s been a reduction in the overall operating size of the college, which has been happening over a number of years due to declining enrollment,” Friel said.
Of the 2026-27 operating budget, $15.7 million has been set aside for salaries and wages, a decrease of $550,000 from the prior year. Money set aside for staff benefits also decreased by nearly 5%, from $6.87 million to $6.53 million.
To partially make up for the expected loss in revenue, the college voted to increase tuition costs and fees for students for the upcoming school year.
Starting with the 2026-27 school year, Butler County residents attending BC3 will pay $142 per credit hour, while all other Pennsylvanians will pay $245 and out-of-state students will pay $345 — an increase of $2 per credit hour from 2025-26. The additional fee has also increased from $67 to $69.
The college is anticipating an even $12.71 million from student tuition and fees in the 2026-27 operating fund budget. Even with the tuition and fee increases, this would be a decrease of 6.7% from the prior school year.
“Those are the two big items,” Friel said. “We're reducing the amount of tuition that we expect to have next year and we're also reducing the amount of expenses related to salaries and benefits next year.”
Wednesday’s board of trustees meeting was held at the BC3 @ Armstrong satellite campus in Ford City in accordance with the trustees’ tradition of holding their last meeting of the academic year at one of the BC3 satellite campuses.
Additonally, Sheryle Long was appointed as BC3’s newest trustee at the meeting.
