Bluegrass Community & Technical College - Cooper Campus

I'm have almost completed my degree at BCTC and it has been a great experience. The tuition is very cheap, and as other have stated, nearly all of my instructors are UK instructors and carry the exact same course work to BCTC. As a veteran the VA reps they have are considered a 3rd party, but I have never felt it to be that way. Very helpful. As for the negative reviews.... If you have financial issues, it is typically your own fault. A college is assuming you are an adult and understand how to take care of your responsibilities. One user said the school isn't accredited? Not sure where you got that info, but it is very wrong. The school has a very close connection to UK and actually have direct transfer options for 4 year degree students to most large colleges done in house. I would recommend anyone at the very least to do your Gen ed courses here and save a lot of money.

I think like any other school, BCTC has many benefits and drawbacks. When I went there, I found the professors to be fantastic (both online and in person). Many were understanding and helpful, which was great as I worked full-time while in college and often times needed to either move ahead in the work or turn something in later than expected. Either way, they were more than fair and accommodating. The tuition is not cheap. Sure, it's cheaper than your average University, but what they end up charging you when they try to keep some students behind another semester here and there to fulfill additional requirements is outright wrong. Many of my fellow students complained most about the lack of guidance they received, or inaccurate information they were given about their degree class requirements. We would be told one thing - this is what you need to take in order to get this degree. When the time came to collect on said degree, they would change the terms and insist you needed to take something else in order to fulfill the requirements. Then some other red-tape would come into play later on. I knew many students who fell into that trap and ended up attending a year longer than necessary. I'd say for meeting your gen-eds or focusing on vocational-training specific programs (dental hygiene, nursing aide, etc.), than BCTC is more than suitable. I would be remiss if I didn't caution students on the guidance and financial aid. Know what you need coursework wise before you start - AND know what it is going to cost you. I can't speak to their current operation. I can only hope the aforementioned departments have improved in the student experience.

Worst experience with a school ever. A lot of people pick them because they’re cheap and you get what you pay for. I had one meeting to register for classes. No one met with me again or tried to communicate with me. I was never assigned an advisor once class started. I did online classes for 2 weeks and did not like them. Professors were difficult to get a response from. I withdrew from class and apparently missed deadline by just days which I was unaware of. My Pell Grant was taken back all but 180 some odd dollars because of this, meaning I now had to pay the rest of my account. I called to discuss payment plans I could afford and they weren’t good enough for them. It was then turned over to dept of revenue who gladly accepted the payments I offered bctc before. Over half has been paid off in just the past 6 months. I called to discuss a meeting to potentially try to go back in the spring and was told I would not be allowed to attend because of the partial balance regardless of me still paying on it with no late or missed payments. Horrible experience. Do not plan to try and go back at any point in time now. Waste of time and money for classes I didn’t even do. Definitely research and spend the extra money to go elsewhere if you can.

No one knows anything here I've been trying to enroll and keep throwing me around from person to person you email somebody they don't ever answer you back the student center is absolutely no help all they're going to tell you is go hunt down a professor because they don't know anything about the subject that you're applying for I also gave up trying to find professors because they do not keep their office hours. The school needs to train their staff better I'm actually going to drive out of my way now to go to a school in Louisville so I won't have to deal with these people ever again

I haven’t even made it to scheduling and this is already the most trouble I’ve been given by any academic program. And I’ve went to "better" programs. I’m stuck due to a terrible work accident that has left me 100% physically disabled until my surgery soon. I will not be recovered until mid 2025. Due to this I had to relocate a while back to my hometown to have help being taken care of. I can’t stop my life. I have to continue with my credits. I can’t work. I’m a liability. I cannot study ON campus for an unknown amount of time. On top of that I have been diagnosed and treated by a psychologist and clinical psychiatrists for autism and ocd with learning disabilities. I have had so much trouble for months just trying to get to an advisor. The school lost the electronic transcript I paid for. It took months to get that squared away. It was escalated so many times and no one could find it though I have proof that it was received by them. Every day is a new day of hurdles. No one I’ve spoken to seems to be on the same page with anyone else. Everyone has their way of doing it and it’s usually not working then the next person says that’s not the way to do it and it keeps going. Mind you, I was warned by others that it’s not a simple process getting started here. It’s hoops and hurdles and then they scramble the last week to fit you in places. I finally was given an advisors number. I left a message. They did not respond but sent a personal email and it felt rude, short, unhelpful, and basically a big fat I can’t help you. That was David Beckman. I desperately expressed the issues back and how hard it’s been and how I just need to get my classes together and I can’t go in person and everything for me is 4 steps behind compared to able bodied and intellectually abled students. I still haven’t heard from anyone in the disability office there. I explained I cannot do math online and have had to drop it in the past. I’m terrible at it and it has to be done in person so it HAS to wait but everything else should be no problem to get started and whatever obstacles can be overridden. I know because better universities agree. Freakin’ Columbia told me it could wait while working on my cybersecurity until I can get in person and be able to live in a math lab with on campus tutors and professor hours to get through it. My mind does not work that way. I can’t just do it. I have tried numerous times and can’t afford to fail out over and over but he was upset that I reached out to him wanting to know who sent me to him. It was one of the MANY people who you speak to over the phone at bctc. You can’t keep up. Even when you’re not calling them, they have someone calling you who has no idea the struggles you’ve been having wanting to know why you haven’t set up your classes yet. I’m sorry but I don’t have an hour to keep repeating this situation to each random caller. That’s how I keep ending up with a different answer to my issues every other day. I have no one to just go through this with me and help me get to where I need to be. I thought an advisor was that person. Another person I spoke to who works for the college personally apologized for that advisor and said they were going to get me scheduled with someone else. That was all it took to get an appointment with an advisor after months. It’s weeks out and pretty much, nothing can go wrong at that appointment as we won’t have time for that. Not quite sure how I’ll go about making sure everything is done in time. The page on disabilities is so confusing beyond anything I’ve read academically. I don’t have tests. I was diagnosed as an adult. I’ve been medicated. I can get letters, sure, but testing? I was treated in NYC and was told there is not proper adequate autism testing for adults but I was diagnosed without a doubt and given medications for symptoms. As well as OCD/ADHD which overlaps a bit. Either way, if you can go somewhere else, just do so. I’m seriously considering saying forget this and going elsewhere where I’m not such a problem.

It's like trying to get a hold of the pope when you need assistance. When you do get someone on the phone, it's a representative from the student call center, which about 95% of time cannot help you. They give incorrect information, will tell you they don't know or transfer you to someone else who cannot help. Also, even instructors rarely email you back. It's very frustrating especially when you can't just walk into the campus for assistance. For example, I emailed the Dean of the Mathematics for some syllabi needed for my new college to evaluate and she confirmed she would send those over. That was a week ago and I still did not receive an email. Another example, I have an Associate in Science with BCTC, I also have enough credits for an Associate in Art as well. First off, no one advised me of this. Second, I can't get a hold of anyone from the Records office. When I call, the phone line says the press a # for such and such, when I press the number (any number) it says "This number is not recognized", which forces me to contact the Student Customer Service line who will then submit a ticket and a week goes by and no one follows up. For these reasons alone, I would not recommend anyone attend BCTC unless you can walk in there when you need help OR if you have hours to spend trying to get assistance.

BCTC has its problems, but the classes are excellent as are the vast majority of teachers. I've read the various bad reviews here, and they mostly boil down to: nobody held my hand the whole time. If you are interested in your own education, take responsibility for knowing what classes to take to get your degree, and stay out of financial aid trouble, you'll be fine. But if you want to wait until the last minute, blow off class, then let someone else tell you what to do because you have no clue, then you may not get your degree on time (or at all). But then, college really isn't for such people. If you want a good affordable education, and you are willing to take responsibility for yourself, BCTC is a great place to learn and an excellent jumping-off point for a 4-year degree in Kentucky.