General Admissions Policy
Students who want to enroll in one of BCC’s degree or certificate programs, whether full- or part-time, must be admitted to the College. Enrolling in a program is called matriculating. Students who are interested in taking classes may do so without applying so long as they meet at of the course pre-requisites.
Some programs restrict entrance to applicants who have not already met specific requirements. Applicants who have not yet met those requirements can be admitted to the College to enroll in prerequisite courses.
For applicants who have a name change, the Admissions Office will need legal documentation of change of name.
Open Enrollment Program Information
- Applicants will be admitted to the College on a rolling admissions basis, which means first come, first served, as long as the application is complete, all required documents have been received, and a vacancy exists in the applicant’s desired program of study.
- Applicants may apply for the fall or spring semesters; however, some programs may not be available every semester. Applicants should contact the Admissions Office for details.
- Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible prior to the beginning of a semester since some programs and classes may limit enrollment.
Application and Acceptance
The first step in the enrollment process is to complete the application at www.berkshirecc.edu/apply. After applying, applicants will be sent an acknowledgement to the email address provided in the application. One week later, BCC will send a formal letter of acceptance.
Testing and Placement
Upon acceptance to the College, students will either take the Accuplacer or submit official high school transcripts for evaluation of their GPA to be placed into courses. Students who previously attended another college or university should submit their official transcripts to BCC to see if you are exempt from testing.
Placement by GPA
In accordance with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education’s December 2018 Amendment to the 1998 Common Assessment Policy, and in conjunction with the goals set forth in the Vision Project, effective beginning in the Fall 2019 semester, BCC has developed a multiple measures placement approach. This multiple measures approach allows the college to review additional evidence of student learning, rather than a single, high-stakes examination score to determine readiness for college-level coursework, with a goal of increasing student success and completion rates at the college.
English: A student who presents a transcript of high school work completed within the last ten years with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.7 will be placed into ENG 101, and also meets the pre-requisites of ENG 020 and/or ENG 090.
Mathematics: A student who presents a transcript of high school work completed within the last three years with a cumulative GPA of 2.7 will be placed into MAT 102, MAT 113, Survey of College Math or MAT 123, Elementary Statistic, MAT 101, or BUS 105.
If the students program requires MAT 121 or 151 however, the student must complete the math portions of the Accuplacer, beginning with the Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics assessment (QAS) for placement into MAT 136) and the Advanced Algebra and Functions assessment (AAF) for placement into MAT 121 and 151. Students who need MAT 136 for the Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) program, will need to take Accuplacer.
Students who do not qualify for GPA, test score, or prior coursework review for placement, or those who would like to reassess, will be take the Accuplacer.