SLIPPERY ROCK - Slippery Rock University and Butler County Community College entered an agreement Friday that will streamline the transfer of courses to the university.

The agreement was signed Friday by SRU President Robert Smith and BC3 President Cynthia Azari in North Hall on the SRU campus.

It will allow BC3 students to transfer courses from 15 programs, in addition to the 13 other programs that were previously transferable.

At the signing ceremony, Azari said she is impressed with the relationship between the two institutions.

"It's a great opportunity for our students to continue to pursue their baccalaureate degrees," she said. "What this guarantees is that a student who follows the prescribed program can seamlessly transfer from BC3's program to SRU's program."

Smith pointed out that associate level courses are less expensive at the community college.

"If it has no impact on your final goal, then why not," Smith said.

A credit hour at BC3 currently costs $80, including fees. At SRU, one credit hour costs $280 including fees. Most courses are comprised of three credit hours.

Under what is called an articulation agreement, "BC3 students enroll in two-year programs with curriculums established specifically for transition to SRU," an SRU press release said.

Azari said the intent of the agreement from BC3's perspective is for students to earn their associates degrees, then transfer the entire degree to SRU.

However, Smith added that the courses transferred would be accepted by SRU even if a student doesn't complete an associate's degree.

The 15 new transition programs added in the agreement signed Friday are:

Communication, emergency technology and multimedia, journalism, public relations, information systems, environmental geoscience-environmental science, environmental geoscience-general, environmental science, geography-applied geographic technology, geography-environmental studies, geography-general, sociology-criminology, sociology-general, sociology-anthropology and social work