Matt Gergely

Staff Writer

  Lorain County Community College has made one its goals to help small businesses thrive in the local community, and a new partnership is the latest step toward that goal.

  Adding to its extensive program of partnerships with colleges across Ohio, LCCC recently has revealed a new bachelor degree of science in commerce (BSC) with the University of Miami.

  A beneficial aspect about this new program is that LCCC students can complete the degree completely online. Of the few career choices that can be helped with the commerce degree include students who want to expand on a current business or want to create a business of their own.

  Students who complete the online degree can expect it to help build a meaningful career in a number of business-related fields. According to LCCC business professor Tony Cioffi. “The main focuses that are in the program are buying and selling, which includes goods, property, commodities, and services,” Cioffi explained.

Cioffi believes that this program is geared for students who are interested in starting a small business, “Lorain County is home to many small businesses and the skills in this program may be very attractive to all, he said.

  Another advantage LCCC students have is that associate degree path and courses makes it easier to transfer into the Miami BSC program and already complete courses at the LCCC price. With one of the lowest regional tuition rates in Ohio, LCCC students can expect the most “bang for your buck”in terms of education when completing their bachelors.

   Students can expected a savings of over $10,000 as tuition for the BSC program at LCCC is about $215.50 per credit hour compared to nearly four times as much if the student complete the program at Miami University’s main campus in Oxford, Ohio, according to Cioffi.

   LCCC is the first community college in Ohio to have a University Partnership program, where students can select from over 50 different associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees all offered by leading universities.  Many of the credits students earn at LCCC can be transferred to those leading universities.  Students should speak with their counselor or an adviser to confirm their credit hours are transferable.

For more information, contact Karen Tomcko at ktomcko@lorainccc.edu or (440) 366-4823, or learn more at the University Partnership page on the Lorain County Community College website.