Even though there are a lot of events planned during Orientation, we have made sure to include various periods of down time every day. Orientation Week is a great time to get to know your peers and familiarize yourself with the campus!

Yes, and please do! If you need lodging for Summer Connections, you can bring up to three guests; if you don’t need lodging for Summer Connections you can bring more than three guests. For Orientation week in the fall, you can bring as many guests as you’d like, but lodging will be the responsibility of the guests.

• First-Term
  • You will not need to register for your first-term courses because the Dean of Curriculum and Student Learning will put your schedule together for you. This schedule is based on a number of factors: your selected area of academic interest, your preferred courses you selected during the course selection part of Online Orientation, math readiness, test scores, any transferred credits, and course availability.
• Second-Term and beyond
  • You will register for second-term courses online. Students will meet with their academic advisors to discuss what courses they should take in their second semester. We also have a first-year class meeting dedicated to showing students how to register for courses online along with the help of your TA/Peer Leader.

Your first-semester schedule is designed to satisfy courses they will need for their general education requirements, as well as give students a taste of a few courses in their prospective major. Due to the Liberal Arts nature of Berea College, no course taken is ever a waste so even if you do not get all the courses that you want in your first term, you will have more opportunities in later terms to take those courses.

Students will declare their major after they have completed 15 credits at Berea, which is typically during their second semester in their second year. However, students with transfer credits may declare their major earlier, depending on when they complete 15 credits.

This course is designed to help students with transitions from their past experiences to the challenges of college academic life and culture, also emphasizing writing, reasoning, and learning as foundations or continuing academic success in General Education and beyond. Each section of the course involves explicit, continuing attention to writing, reasoning, research, and reflective engagement with various texts, written and non-written. All sections initially address with students questions about the nature of education, liberal-arts education, and links to lifelong learning and living. Offered in multiple sections each year; taken in the first term of the first year.

Classroom sizes are modest at Berea College. For this reason, the nature of classes at Berea is more intimate than at larger Universities. Students can expect to get to know their professors on a deeper, more personal level, if they so choose. The professors at Berea College are at this institution because they love to teach and they genuinely love and care for the students. Our professors are open, approachable, and actively concerned about the students, both as academics and humans beings.

Classes at Berea College are academically rigorous, and students are expected to do good work, both inside and outside the classroom. Classes are designed to stimulate critical thinking in students and challenge students to confront their traditional cognitions on various topics. Students often feel great pride after reflecting back on all they have learned and accomplished in the courses they’ve taken at Berea.

When you arrive on Campus for Orientation in the fall, your CPO number will be included in your folder that has all the pertinent information you will need to get adjusted to campus.

There are lots of ways to join clubs/organizations. We have host a Clubs and Organizations Fair during Orientation week where you can go and learn about the clubs/organizations on campus. For more information on how to join, please visit Campus Life.

You can find more information about our labor program on the Labor Program website.

It may take some time to get used to this transition of living in a residence hall, but having a roommate is a crucial part of the college experience. If you have any problems with your roommate that you cannot resolve, your Resident Advisor (RA) who lives on your floor will be there to assist you in the transition into your new home.

The EDGE (Empowering a Dynamic Generation through Education) is the name given to Berea College’s program that provides a laptop computer to every student. In addition to laptop computers, the EDGE program provides access to the campus network and the Internet from many locations, including classrooms and residence hall rooms, as well as access to software, classroom multimedia technology, technical support, and training. Students who graduate from Berea College receive ownership of their laptop computers upon completion of transfer of ownership documents available at the Technology Resource Center.

First-year students cannot have a car on campus unless they live 8 hours or 500+ miles away. You can have apply for a student parking decal during your second year at Berea, subject to availability. See more information about the Vehicle Policy at Berea.

Berea College offers sustainable transportation resources such as campus bike racks and carpool parking, a campus shuttle system to surrounding communities, and a student-led community bike program. For more information, please visit the transportation section on the Berea College Sustainability website.

In an emergency, please call 911. For non-emergency situations you can call Public Safety at 859-985-3333. If you need to see a doctor, visit or call White House Clinic at 859-985-1415.