Bucks County Community College students can now get their bachelor’s degree in Wales

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Starting next fall, Bucks County Community College business administration students can transfer to Wrexham University in Wales to receive their bachelor’s degree after one year, and a Master of Business Administration degree in two years.

Tracy Timby, vice president of workforce and strategic partnerships at BCCC, said the partnership is the next chapter in the ongoing relationship between Greater Philadelphia and Wrexham, sparked by “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” creator and star Rob McElhenney’s and actor Ryan Reynolds’ decision to buy Wrexham’s professional soccer team.

The pair’s documentary series about their efforts, “Welcome to Wrexham,” is in part responsible for this higher education partnership, Timby said.

She was reading an article about how Wrexham University hoped to leverage the city’s newfound fame to attract more international students. Timby messaged a Wrexham administrator on LinkedIn, and was surprised when they responded.

“We had both done some research on each other’s student populations,” she said. “They’re very similar, and we thought it would be a good fit … The whole partnership really has been the result of serendipity.”

Greg Luce, dean of the School of Business, Innovation and Legal Studies at BCCC, said he hopes to have a few students continue their educational journey across the pond starting in the fall of 2026. The college is starting to offer information sessions on the program this semester.

“Our students don’t come to Bucks thinking that this is something that’s possible for them,” Luce said. “They don’t think that they can study abroad or transfer to an international university. So we have to do a lot of education and sort of building their confidence that this is something that they can actually achieve.”

Savings and opportunities abroad

The program brings a myriad of financial, academic and professional benefits, Luce said.

“There’s actually a financial savings for our students,” Luce said, explaining that bachelor’s degrees can be completed in three years at universities in the United Kingdom. “With the tuition and even estimating their housing expenses, it’ll still be cheaper for them to go to Wales and study than to complete their degree at Temple, for example. So there is a potential cost savings for them and a time savings.”

According to a 2025 survey, U.S. students’ interest in study abroad overall is increasing, and amid the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts to higher education institutions stateside, some students are applying to colleges overseas.

Luce said studying abroad also gives students a “huge advantage” when it comes to finding jobs after graduation, and that Wrexham University in particular has strong relationships with employers in both the U.K. and the U.S.

Timby said just living and studying in another country and in a different cultural context can contribute to students’ professional growth.

“It gives the students a chance to develop those soft skills that employers are looking for, their ability to problem solve, think critically, work in groups with strangers, navigate territory that they aren’t familiar with,” she said. “I think from a social and intellectual maturity standpoint, it really will be very beneficial for our students, not to mention confidence. I mean, if you can navigate a year abroad, you’ve got to feel pretty good about yourself.”

BCCC said the partnership could evolve to include shorter exchanges of faculty and students, virtual collaboration on joint course projects and more.

“An exchange is high on the list to figure out how we can make that work, because not every student can commit to living a year in Wales, but a week or two of an exchange is a lot more manageable,” Luce said.

Timby says she hasn’t spoken with McElhenney about the partnership, but she thinks it could be a good next feature in the growing connection between Greater Philadelphia and Wrexham.

“I think it’s a natural evolution of what Rob and Ryan have done over there, because initially they invested in the football team, and then they started investing in the community, and they haven’t had that element of education yet,” she said. “And what would that look like to follow students from the U.S. as they build a life in Wrexham?”