(New Castle, PA) Butler County Community College’s newest location is guaranteeing to Lawrence County high school seniors two chances to pocket one dozen free and transferrable credits to help them earn a degree more quickly and enter the job market faster.
The first yearlong BC3 @ Lawrence Early College Pioneers dual-enrollment program starts Aug. 24 with three 8 a.m. general education courses at BC3 @ Lawrence in Shenango Township, which opened in August 2025.
Seniors this fall can take on Mondays and Wednesdays a three-credit course in speech; and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a three-credit course in college writing or in general psychology, said Sean Carroll, director of BC3 @ Lawrence.
Twenty-five students — from Lincoln, Mohawk, Neshannock, New Castle and Shenango high schools, and from homeschools — have already registered for the courses, Carroll said.
“What a great thing for Lawrence County to have an option for students to get this type of college transition experience.”
-- Dr. Josh Novak, BC3 vice president for student affairs and enrollment management
Seniors from Lawrence County high schools and homeschools who have a minimum grade-point average of 2.75 are eligible for the BC3 @ Lawrence Early College Pioneers program, and, Carroll said, can still pursue a limited number of seats that remain this fall.
Interested students should contact their high school guidance counselor or principal, or complete the BC3 high school programming application at bc3.edu/cwhs, said Dr. Josh Novak, BC3’s vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.
“What a great thing for Lawrence County to have an option for students to get this type of college transition experience,” Novak said.
The deadline to register for the BC3 @ Lawrence Early College Pioneers program’s fall 2026 courses is Aug. 10.
BC3 has applied a portion of a two-year, $347,000 state Department of Education grant to fund the 12-credit opportunity to Lawrence County seniors in 2026-2027 and in 2027-2028 without charge.
“I’m glad for all Lawrence County students,” said Dr. Joseph McCormick, superintendent of the Shenango Area School District. “This program is at no cost to them. Sometimes people say things are too good to be true. But these are free college credits, which are just difficult to come by.”
“(The program) is tremendous because the kids get a chance to go to a college setting and get that college experience by taking courses they will need.”
-- Dr. Gregg Paladina, superintendent, New Castle Area School District
“For college-bound seniors there is a timeline for when they could potentially earn whatever degree or certification they are looking toward. And the sooner they can earn those credits, the better for them to be able to enter the workforce more quickly.”
-- Dr. Amy Anderson, superintendent, Ellwood City Area School District
Dr. Gregg Paladina is superintendent of the New Castle Area School District.
“It’s an absolutely amazing opportunity for our students and families to have a chance for 12 free credits,” Paladina said.
The program will not only benefit students’ time, said Dr. Amy Anderson, superintendent of the Ellwood City Area School District.
“When you look at the amount that they have to spend for a college-level credit, if they can get that for free, that money can stay with them as they move outside of college,” Anderson said.
About 71 percent of college students with dual-enrollment credits complete a credential within six years. That six-year completion percentage decreases to 57 for those who do not have dual-enrollment credits, according to a National Student Clearinghouse Research Center report in February.
“For college-bound seniors,” Anderson said, “there is a timeline for when they could potentially earn whatever degree or certification they are looking toward. And the sooner they can earn those credits, the better for them to be able to enter the workforce more quickly.”
BC3 faculty members will instruct the BC3 @ Lawrence Early College Pioneers program, Carroll said, adding that the three-credit courses to be offered in spring 2027 will be identified this fall.
“It’s a different dynamic to be around different people and hear different ideas and experience what college is like.”
-- Sean Carroll, director, BC3 @ Lawrence
Students will benefit by attending the program at BC3 @ Lawrence, the newest of the additional locations the college has provided to Lawrence County for nearly four decades.
“When you walk into that college classroom, often you know few if any students,” Carroll said. “And then you get to develop relationships over a 14-week period with your instructor and your fellow students. It’s a different dynamic to be around different people and hear different ideas and experience what college is like.”
All dual-enrollment students with BC3 can receive up to one hour of free tutoring per course per week, Novak said.
The BC3 @ Lawrence Early College Pioneers program “is tremendous because the kids get a chance to go to a college setting and get that college experience by taking courses they will need,” Paladina said. “They will have that first-hand college experience right there and then be able to come back to the high school only a few miles away.”
The BC3 @ Lawrence Early College Pioneers program was established in partnership with Lawrence County school district leaders, Novak said.
“They told us it was a need,” Novak said. “But at the end of the day, it’s the students who are registering that prove it’s a need.”
About 75 percent of students nationwide chose to attend public community colleges such as BC3 for dual-enrollment courses in the 2022-2023 academic year, according to a 2024 report by the American Association of Community Colleges.
BC3’s 29-year-old College Within the High School program will also offer three-credit courses for $250 and to be instructed at participating Lawrence County high schools or learning centers in the upcoming academic year.
The college this fall will hold its seventh free Riv-Ell Entrepreneurship program in Ellwood City for Lincoln and Riverside seniors. A record-tying 10 seniors in the privately funded program in 2025-2026 earned 16 transferrable credits without charge and BC3’s resume-building workplace certificate in entrepreneurship.