Five Butler County Community College students are going to Harrisburg to tell lawmakers how the school is helping them reach their career and life goals.

The students are traveling with Nick Neupauer, BC3 president, to the state Capitol Rotunda Tuesday to lobby for more funding for community colleges than Gov. Tom Wolf has included in his proposed 2018-19 budget.

While Wolf's $32.9 billion fiscal plan includes an additional $1.8 million in reimbursements for approved capital projects, it freezes operational spending for Pennsylvania's 14 community colleges at the current $232.1 million level.

The colleges are urging lawmakers to increase operating appropriations by $10.6 million.

“I'm basically going to lobby for the college. My goal and purpose is to support the college for the affordability, the convenience and the opportunity the college has to offer for students,” said Jocelyn Guy, a sophomore from Prospect. “I like that the community college gives flexibility.”

Her scholarship allows her to save money and scheduling allows her to work part time, she said.

“I get to go to BC3 debt free, which is really nice. I only have to worry about paying for my next two years. I'm going to focus on affordability for sure,” said Guy, who also received a scholarship to pursue a bachelor's degree in business administration at Robert Morris University in the fall.

Guy is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honors society, a campus ambassador and is in the campus leadership program.

“You definitely get the college experience when you go to BC3 even though you're not going away and staying at a four-year school,” she said.

More than 317,000 students are enrolled in community colleges, which are the largest provider of education and workforce training in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

The average annual tuition for a full-time student at a Pennsylvania community college is $3,900 compared to $7,492 at a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education college, according to the commission.

BC3's tuition, at $108 a credit for a full-time student, is the least expensive among 42 regional colleges and universities, according to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

BC3 receives one-third of its funding from the state.

“We're going there to support community colleges. We hope lawmakers want to continue to fund community colleges,” said Chris Slay, a 36-year-old student from Butler.

He obtained a scholarship to attend BC3 and an All PA Academic Team scholarship to pursue a bachelor's degree in social work from Slippery Rock University in the fall. He said he wants to earn his master's degree.

Like 75 percent of BC3 students, he said he will graduate with no debt.

“I'm a non-traditional student. I'm graduating debt free. I'm transferring to Slippery Rock tuition free,” said Slay, who is married and has three children.

Alyssa Nusser, a student from Cranberry Township, said she will tell lawmakers about how she earned 15 BC3 credits through the articulation agreement between BC3 and the Butler County Vocational-Technical School.

“BC3 was best fit for me because they have an articulation agreement with the vo-tech,” Nusser said. “It cuts out a semester, which is nice.”

She said she received her cosmetology license from the vo-tech and will graduate in May with an associate degree in cosmetology management from BC3.

Her job at the high-end Izzazu Salon in Wexford will become full time after she graduates. She said she hopes to teach cosmetology in the future.

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