Berea College
Berea College is a very distinctive institute of higher learning. The college was founded in 1855 as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, Berea charges no tuition and admits only academically promising students who have limited economic resources. Berea's cost of educating a student exceeds $23,000 per year. Every admitted student is provided the equivalent of a four-year, full-tuition scholarship.
Berea offers undergraduate academic programs in twenty eight different fields. Berea’s primarily concentrate on the Southern Appalachia region, but students come from all states in the US and more than 60 other countries.
Academics and student life
Berea graduates go on to graduate and professional schools, and the College is also active in international programs, with about half of Berea students studying abroad before graduation. The college provides funding to assist students in studying abroad.
Berea is a residential college community and it has approximately 1,500 students in a given time. Students build friendships, expand their social horizons, and increase their understanding of themselves and others by living in residence halls and participating in extracurricular life.
Scholarships and work program
Berea College provides students with full-tuition scholarships and many receive support for room and board as well. Admission to the College is granted only to students who need financial assistance. Applications are generally accepted only from those whose family income falls within the bottom 40% of U.S. households. Generally, no more than one student is admitted from a given country in a single year. This ensures that 70 or more nationalities are represented in the student body of Berea College. All international students are provided with financial aid.
As a work college, Berea has a student work program in which all students work 10 or more hours per week on campus. Berea is one of eight colleges in the United States to have mandatory work study programs. Berea College has helped make the town a center for quality arts and crafts.
Students are currently paid an hourly wage at or above $3.80 per hour by the college. The college regularly increases student pay on a yearly basis, but it has never been equivalent to the federal minimum wage in the school's history. Students are not allowed to work off campus. The college generally uses a shuttle bus system to provide students with supplemental transport.
Campus life
Technology is an important part of life at Berea College. To help students bridge the "digital divide," in 2000 Berea launched its laptop initiative as the top objective of its Sesquicentennial fundraising campaign. All students at Berea receive laptops that they take with them when they graduate. There are about 5,800 data ports on campus. The college is working to establish a campus-wide wireless network, with twenty-four on-campus wireless hotspots currently.
Berea's sports teams are called the "Mountaineers." They compete in the NAIA's Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Berea has not had a football team since 1904.
Christian identity
The College has an inclusive Christian character, expressed in its motto "God has made of one blood all peoples of the Earth." Students come from all states in the U.S. and from more than 60 other countries representing a rich diversity of colours, cultures, and faiths.
Library collections
The Hutchins Library maintains an extensive collection of books, archives, and music pertaining to the history and culture of the Southern Appalachian region
