Berea College

Founded in 1855 by the abolitionist and Augusta College graduate John Gregg Fee (1816–1901), Berea College admitted both black and white students in a fully integrated curriculum, making it the first non-segregated, coeducational college in the South and one of a handful of institutions of higher learning to admit both male and female students in the mid-19th century. [ 10 ] The college began as a one-room schoolhouse that also served as a church on Sundays on land that was granted to Fee by politician and abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay . Fee named the new community after the biblical Berea . Although the school's first articles of incorporation were adopted in 1859, slavery supporters forced Fee and the teachers out of the area that year. Fee spent the Civil War years raising funds for the school, trying to provide for his family in Cincinnati , and working at Camp Nelson . He returned afterward to continue his work at Berea. He spent nearly 18 months working mostly at Camp Nelson, where he helped provide facilities for the freedmen and their families, as well as teaching and preaching. He helped get funds for barracks, a hospital, a school, and a church. In 1866, Berea's first full year after the war, it had 187 students, 96 Black and 91 white. It began with preparatory classes to ready students for study at the college level. In 1869, the first college students were admitted, and the first bachelor's degrees were awarded in 1873. Almost all the South's private and state colleges were racially segregated. Berea was the main exception until a new state law in 1904 forced its segregation. [ 11 ] The college challenged the law in state court and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in Berea College v. Kentucky . When the challenge failed, the college had to become an all-white school, but it raised funds to establish the Lincoln Institute in 1912 in Simpsonville, Kentucky , to educate Black students.

[ 10 ] In 1950, when the Day Law was amended to allow integration of schools at the college level, Berea resumed its integrated policies. [ 10 ] An advertisement for Berea College from 1900, placed in a Black newspaper in Minnesota In 1911, the college restricted students to eating at college-owned facilities. A local businessman sued but the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the college's restriction was legal ( Gott v. Berea College ). In 1925, advertiser Bruce Barton , a future congressman, sent a letter to 24 wealthy men in America to raise funds for the college. Every letter was returned with a minimum of $1,000 in donation. During World War II , Berea was one of 131 colleges nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program , which offered students a path to a navy commission. [ 12 ] Until 1968, Berea provided pre-college education in addition to a college-level curriculum. That year, the elementary and secondary schools (Foundation School) were discontinued in favor of focusing on undergraduate college education. [ 13 ] Presidents Presidents of the college have included: [ 14 ] More information Name, Years as president ... Name Years as president 1 Henry Fairchild (1869–1889) [ 10 ] 2 William Boyd Stewart (1890–1892) 3 William Goodell Frost (1892–1920) 4 William J. Hutchins (1920–1939) 5 Francis S. Hutchins (1939–1967) 6 Willis D. Weatherford (1967–1984) 7 John B. Stephenson (1984–1994) 8 Larry Shinn (1994–2012) 9 Lyle D. Roelofs (2012–2023) [ 15 ] 10 Cheryl Nixon (2023–present) [ 16 ] Close

Draper Building Berea College offers 33 majors and 39 minors from which its 1,600 students can choose. Students who wish to pursue a field of study that cannot be met through an established major may propose an independent major, provided they meet the criteria in the college catalog's definition of a major. The student must secure independent major advisers (primary and secondary). Its most popular majors, based on 2021 graduates, were: [ 17 ] Business Administration and Management (30) Computer and Information Sciences (28) Biology/Biological Sciences (21) Psychology (20) Human Development and Family Studies (19) Mass Communication/Media Studies (16) Engineering Technologies/Technicians (14) Political Science and Government (14) To ensure every student has access to fully experience a liberal arts education, the college provides significant funding to assist students in studying abroad. [ 18 ] Berea students are also eligible for the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship , which provides funding for a year of study abroad after graduation. [ 19 ] All students are required to attend the college on a full-time basis. They are also required to attend at least six convocation events each semester and receive academic credit. The convocations are designed as a supplement to the curriculum by encouraging educational experience and cultural enrichment. Topics range across academic fields and include lectures, symposia, concerts, and the performing arts. These events are free to Berea College students and open to the public. [ 20 ] Rankings and outcomes Quick facts Academic rankings, Liberal arts ... Academic rankings Liberal arts U.S. News & World Report [ 21 ] 40 Washington Monthly [ 22 ] 2 National Forbes [ 23 ] 453 WSJ /College Pulse [ 24 ] 311 Close In 2024, Washington Monthly ranked Berea College first in the U.S. among national liberal arts colleges based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.

[ 25 ] The New York Times also ranked Berea first in its 2023 College Access Index based on economic diversity. [ 26 ] The 2025 annual ranking of U.S. News & World Report categorizes Berea as "more selective" and rates it 40th overall, first in "Service Learning," second for "Most Innovative Schools," tied for 9th in "Best Undergraduate Teaching", and fifth in "Top Performers in Social Mobility" among U.S. liberal colleges. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] Kiplinger's Personal Finance placed Berea 35th in its 2019 ranking of 149 best-value U.S. liberal arts colleges. [ 29 ] According to 2022 data from College Scorecard , Berea College graduates earn a median salary of $40,000 ten years after their entry into the institution. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Mathematics majors earn around $18,000, biology $29,000, psychology $35,000, and nursing $57,000. [ 32 ] 51% of Berea graduates earn higher than a typical high school graduate of the corresponding area. [ 30 ]