BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College students will have more tuition payment options this fall.

Until now, students had to pay their tuition in full before classes started. That has proven problematic for some students, especially those who enrolled at the last minute.

“There are students that we turned away in the past that now will be able to return to the college,” said Jim Hrabosky, vice president for administration and finance.

While the exact procedure is not yet in place, Hrabosky said students who use the payment plan will have to pay 20 to 25 percent of the tuition before classes start and will have to pay the rest in 60 to 90 days.

He estimated about one fourth of students will use the new service.

“It’s important to do what we can as a student-centered institution,” said Nick Neupauer, BC3 president.

The BC3 trustees voted Wednesday to buy and to subscribe to TouchNet, which is payment software.

It includes a text message alert system for students who enroll in the payment plan to let them know when they have payments due, confirm when payments are made, or state when there are past-due payments.

Hrabosky said BC3 is the last community college in Pennsylvania to add a payment plan option for students.

There are more than 7,000 full-time and part-time students at the BC3 main campus and the four satellite facilities at Cranberry Township, Linden Pointe in Mercer County, Lawrence Crossing in Lawrence County and Brockway in Jefferson County.