BC3 embraces changing needs
BUTLER TWP — The higher education landscape is changing: That’s a fact.
And Butler County Community College is working on many different projects that will embrace those changes.
Last month, The Atlantic magazine named five higher education trends for 2014: Earning college credit for what you know, career and technical education, student loan outrage, data privacy concerns and teacher effectiveness.
In a recent interview, BC3 President Nick Neupauer spoke about some of those ongoing trends and how they relate back to the community college as well as other area schools.
“It’s an interesting, unique time for higher education,” Neupauer said, sitting behind his desk at the Butler Township campus.
He said he believes the school is ahead of the curve when it comes to students earning college credits through non-traditional means.
For instance, this month BC3 partnered with the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau to reopen the Kaufman House, which has been closed since a fire in 2011. The building will reopen as a hotel, coffee shop and lounge.
“I think community colleges are more flexible with dealing with these things. We’ve been looking at prior-learning assessment for a while,” Neupauer said.
He said the work experience at Kaufman House for hospitality students would likely translate into internship credits.
And as far as the ballooning cost of college goes, BC3, like most community colleges, is able to tout affordability.
The Atlantic magazine article cites more than 70 percent of college graduates have student loan debt, often in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, Butler County residents enrolled at BC3 full time for the 2013-14 school year pay $2,790 for tuition.
“We have so many students coming to us for affordability purposes,” he said.
Seventy percent of the student body are enrolled in transfer programs, while 30 percent are in career and technical programs.
However, that doesn’t include other noncredit technical programs, like training for welding and roustabouts — workers in the oil and natural gas fields.
Neupauer said the jobs have been more in demand than before.
“Technical hands-on degrees are what’s really in need out there,” he said.
The Atlantic article echoed a similar sentiment: “Policymakers stress the economic benefits of (Career and Technical Education): Students with specialized training or skills find it easier to get hired in this tough labor market.”
To read the full higher education trend article, visit www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/5-higher-education-trends-for-2014/282702.
