(Butler, PA) The 14.3 percent increase in enrollment in Butler County Community College’s most recent online Winter Session likely reflects BC3’s affordable tuition and fees, according to guest students who earned and transferred more than 115 credits to their home institutions in January.
“For my own school, one credit is about $1,600,” said Alyssa Abrams, of Renfrew, “and I spent less than $700 for a three-credit course at BC3.”
“It was a very big difference,” said Sydney Ryan, of North Hills. “You save money.”
BC3’s first Winter Session, in 2017-2018, drew 64 students. Enrollment in the 2023-2024 session rose to 181 and in 2024-2025 increased to 207 students from 17 Pennsylvania counties and two other states, according to Becky Smith, the college’s director of records and registration.
BC3 is offering a selection of 19 general education courses in its ninth online Winter Session, which will be held in the five weeks between Dec. 15 and Jan. 20. Students who live in Butler County will pay $696 for a three-credit course and students who live in other Pennsylvania counties, $1,005.
Guest students can apply for admission at bc3.edu/winter through Dec. 10. BC3 and guest students can register for courses at bc3.edu/winter through Dec. 16.
Residents of Butler and other Pennsylvania counties would pay at least $1,162 in tuition and fees for a three-credit online winter program course at regional public four-year universities in 2025-2026.
“The courses that BC3 offers are top-notch,” said Dr. Belinda Richardson, the college’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “They are equivalent to what guest students would find at their home institutions. The cost savings are just a part of it. Students need to compare not only cost, but quality.”
Abrams and Ryan took general psychology in BC3’s 2024-2025 Winter Session.
“My teacher was really interactive and always giving me feedback,” Ryan said. “I could also message her on the online site that was used for our course and the response was quick.”
Abrams transferred her BC3 Winter Session credits to the private university she attends in Pittsburgh, where she is a junior biology major; and Ryan, to the regional public four-year university from which she graduated in May.
“I took a general sociology course at my home institution and, while I know sociology and general psychology are different topics, I feel like I learned just as much at BC3,” Abrams said.
Abrams plans a career as a physician; and Ryan, a second lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, as a nurse practitioner after she earns a doctor of nursing practice degree.
In addition to general psychology, BC3 will offer for a ninth consecutive Winter Session courses in elementary statistics, health science, human growth and development, intermediate algebra, introduction to art and principles of management.
The college’s 2025-2026 Winter Session will also include courses in American literature: Beginnings to 1865, calculus and analytic geometry I, college algebra, contemporary world history, introduction to music, introduction to religions of the world, productivity applications, research writing, speech, technical writing II and world geography.
BC3’s spring semester begins Jan. 20 with a 15-week Session 1. The college’s 10-week Session 2 starts Feb. 9.