BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College and the MercerCounty Career Center have agreed to give high school students a head start on a computer degree.

The agreement gives career center students advanced placement in the computer information systems program.

Funded by a state grant, the agreement is part of a program that allows students to earn a bachelor's degree by attending the career center, community college and a senior college, each for two years.

Students at the career center will take two industry certification tests that will earn them 16 credits, the equivalent of a semester at BC3. Then students will attend BC3 to finish an associate degree as a PC specialist at LindenPointe in Hermitage.

BC3 is close to finishing an agreement with Thiel College in Greenville, where the students will spend the next two years, said Todd Hittle, project coordinator of the 2+2+2 program at LindenPointe.

When students graduate from the program, they will be prepared to enter a career working with networks and servers, Hittle said.

Bill O'Brien, BC3 vice president for continuing education and off-campus centers, said this program is different from other degree agreements because it offers so many credits based on industry standards.

Hittle said credits are not granted based on class grades or a specific vendor, such as Microsoft. As a result, students don't have to repeat courses from school to school, O'Brien said.

The computer information systems program is identified by the state as a high-demand occupation, meaning it is targeted for funding.

Hittle expects a tremendous response from the students for the program because it can save them thousands of dollars.

It is the college's plan that students, under this agreement, could someday earn as many as 30 credit hours from their secondary school before entering BC3.