Tag: Accolade

Berea Named One of the Best 387 Colleges in the Princeton Review’s 2022 Guide

Last modified: October 5, 2021

Berea College has again been named one of the nation’s “best institutions for undergraduates to earn their college degree” in The Princeton Review’s book, The Best 387 Colleges: 2022 Edition.”

Berea is nationally recognized for its high-quality education and its distinctive labor program, which hires every admitted student to help operate the school. Berea is also known for its Tuition Promise Scholarship that covers the annual tuition cost for every student.

Continue reading Berea Named One of the Best 387 Colleges in the Princeton Review’s 2022 Guide →

Berea College Listed as Top Kentucky College in The Wall Street Journal/THE 2022 Rankings

Last modified: October 4, 2021
Berea College sign on campus in the spring

Photo by Tyler Rocquemore ’22 / Berea College

Berea College is ranked No. 148 – the highest-ranked Kentucky college – in The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (THE) 2022 College Rankings. Berea also ranked No. 3 on the publication’s list of “Best Value Colleges” in the nation.

“We are thrilled to be the top-ranking Kentucky college in both The Wall Street Journal/THE overall list and their ‘Best Value Colleges’ list for 2022,” said Berea College President Lyle Roelofs. “One of our Great Commitments is to extend educational opportunity to all students – regardless of race or economic resources. Our no-tuition policy allows us to provide a high-quality college education to talented students who would not otherwise be able to afford it. Rankings like these put Berea on the map as students look for an affordable and transformative college experience.”

Continue reading Berea College Listed as Top Kentucky College in The Wall Street Journal/THE 2022 Rankings →

Berea College Again Named No. 1 Best Bang for the Buck in the South in the Washington Monthly 2021 College Guide and Rankings

Last modified: September 22, 2021
Washington Monthly has again ranked Berea College the No. 1 Best Bang for the Buck College in the South in their 2021 College Guide and Rankings.

Berea College placed No. 13 in the publication’s 2021 overall ranking of liberal arts colleges.

Washington Monthly rankings are based on “the degree to which they recruit and graduate students of modest means, produce the scholarship and scholars that drive economic growth and human flourishing and encourage students to be active citizens and serve their country.”

Continue reading Berea College Again Named No. 1 Best Bang for the Buck in the South in the Washington Monthly 2021 College Guide and Rankings →

Berea College Featured in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges 2021 Edition

Last modified: October 23, 2020

 

Berea College sign on campus

(Photo: Crystal Wylie ’05)

Berea College is one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review’s 11th annual Guide to Green Colleges. The guide, which profiles 416 colleges, is a resource college applicants can use to identify schools with exemplary commitments to the environment and sustainability.

The Princeton Review chose schools based on a survey of administrators at 695 colleges in 2019-20 about their institutions’ commitments to the environment and sustainability. The company’s editors analyzed more than 25 survey data points in the process of choosing schools for the guide.

Continue reading Berea College Featured in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges 2021 Edition →

Berea College’s Nursing Program Ranked No. 8 in the Southeast

Last modified: October 5, 2020

NursingProcess.org best nursing schools in the nation badge 2020Berea College’s nursing program has been ranked No. 8 out of 731 schools offering nursing programs in the Southeast U.S. for 2020. Nursing Process, a national organization that provides nursing students with education and career information to help them make better choices, conducted the ranking of programs that offer Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees.

Continue reading Berea College’s Nursing Program Ranked No. 8 in the Southeast →

Berea College Ranked No. 1 “Best Value College” by The Wall Street Journal/THE

Last modified: September 18, 2020

A Berea College student reading the Wall Street Journal's article ranking Berea College Number 1Berea College once again tops the list of “Best Value Colleges” in the nation in The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (THE) 2021 College Rankings. Berea’s no-tuition model contributed to its No. 1 best-value ranking.

To determine the best value among the top 250 schools WSJ/THE divided each institution’s overall score by its net price, which includes the total cost of attending a school, such as tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, minus federal or institutional financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid. Students who don’t receive any aid aren’t included in the calculation. The College ranked No. 144 overall, climbing from l55 last year.

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Berea Ranked No. 1 as Best Bang for the Buck and No. 3 Best Liberal Arts College

Last modified: August 31, 2020

Washington Monthly 2020 College Rankings CoverWashington Monthly ranked Berea College No. 1 as the Best Bang for the Buck Colleges in the South. Berea also was named the nation’s No. 3 top liberal arts college in the 2020 Washington Monthly College Rankings guide. No other college in Kentucky was in the top 50. Such recognition for Berea comes from its success in educating and graduating academically talented, low-income students who become service-oriented leaders in their professions and communities. Last year, Berea held the No. 1 and No. 4 spots respectively.

Berea College was recognized by Washington Monthly author Robert Kelchen for maintaining “consistently high rankings thanks to their economic diversity, relatively strong graduation rates and commitment to meeting students’ financial need.”

Continue reading Berea Ranked No. 1 as Best Bang for the Buck and No. 3 Best Liberal Arts College →

Berea Named One of the Best 386 Colleges in the Princeton Review’s 2021 Guide

Last modified: September 21, 2020
The Best 386 Colleges Princeton Review CoverThe Princeton Review has once again cited Berea College as “one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduates to earn their college degree.” This citation was made in their just-released publication of The Best 386 Colleges: 2021 edition of the annual college guide.

Berea is nationally recognized for its high-quality education and its distinctive labor program, which hires every admitted student to help operate the school. Berea is also known for its Tuition Promise Scholarship that covers more than $44,000 in annual tuition costs for every student. Berea’s students mostly come from families making an average of $29,000 and are the first in their families to attend college.

Continue reading Berea Named One of the Best 386 Colleges in the Princeton Review’s 2021 Guide →

Berea College Recognized for Outstanding Service to Environmental Education

Last modified: November 14, 2019
Berea College forester speaking with visitors at the Forestry Outreach Center

Berea College Forester Clint Patterson speaking with visitors to the Forestry Outreach Center. (Photo: Moriah Avery ’21)

Berea College was recognized by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) with the 2019 Outstanding Service to Environmental Education by an Organization award for incorporating environmental education into its sustainability initiatives.

Continue reading Berea College Recognized for Outstanding Service to Environmental Education →

NAACP Honors Berea College

Last modified: November 12, 2019

NAACP Banquet Group

The Richmond-Madison County (Ky.) branch of the NAACP honored Berea College at the recent Freedom Fund Banquet.

The NAACP recognized Berea College because it was the first interracial and co-educational college in the South, and for its inclusive Christian character expressed in its motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.”

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Berea College Featured in The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges: 2019 Edition

Last modified: July 7, 2020
Aerial view of Berea's campus in the summer

(Photo: Jay Buckner)

Berea College is one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review, the education services company that just published the 2019 edition of its Guide to Green Colleges.

Known as a leader in turning the Bluegrass state “green,” Berea College is one of 413 schools profiled in the new guide.

The guide is based on a survey the company conducted in 2018–19 of administrators at hundreds of four-year colleges about their institutions’ commitments to the environment and sustainability. The guide states, “Berea College is a model for sustainability in higher education for the Appalachian region and beyond.”

Continue reading Berea College Featured in The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges: 2019 Edition →

Berea College Ranked No. 1 “Best Value College” by The Wall Street Journal/THE

Last modified: September 23, 2019

A Berea College student reading the Wall Street Journal's article ranking Berea College Number 1Berea College tops the list of “Best Value Colleges” in the nation in The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education (THE) 2020 College Rankings. Looking at the top 250 schools overall, the rankings calculated which schools provide the best value by dividing each school’s overall score by its average net price according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. The average net price is the total cost of attending a school—including tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies, and other costs—minus federal or institutional financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid. Students who don’t receive any aid aren’t included in the calculation.

Berea’s no-tuition model contributed to its No. 1 best-value ranking. The College ranked No. 155 overall.

“We are thrilled to be ranked at the top of this impressive list of colleges and universities and are proud to be leading a cohort of schools that are committed to the important American ideal of social mobility through educational opportunity,” said Berea College President Lyle Roelofs. “Our no-tuition policy allows us to provide talented students who might not otherwise be able to afford access to a high-quality liberal arts education and transformative experiences and enables them to graduate with little or no debt.”

Following Berea on the list are three schools in the City University of New York (CUNY) system: CUNY City College of New York, CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College and CUNY Hunter College. The University of Washington-Seattle rounds out the top five.

Eight of the top 10 best-value colleges in this year’s Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings are public schools whose financial resources are constrained by government budgets.

Read the Wall Street Journal article (pdf) and watch this segment from Spectrum News 1 about our ranking.

Washington Monthly Ranks Berea No. 1 as Best Bang for the Buck and No. 4 Best Liberal Arts College

Last modified: August 26, 2019

2019 Washington Monthly College Rankings magazine coverWashington Monthly ranked Berea College No. 1 as the Best Bang for the Buck Colleges in the South. No other college in Kentucky was in the top 25. Berea also was named the nation’s No. 4 top liberal arts college in the 2019 Washington Monthly College Rankings guide. The recognition for Berea comes from its success in educating and graduating academically talented, low-income students who become service-oriented leaders in their professions and communities.

In announcing the rankings, Washington Monthly author Robert Kelchen noted that there is “growing public attention paid to colleges’ roles in fostering upward social mobility among their students. This is our eighth year of producing a ranking of ‘best bang for the buck’ colleges, which is laser focused on showing which colleges do a good job promoting social mobility—and which don’t.”

Kelchen noted that Berea held the top spot again this year due to the College’s “economic diversity, relatively strong graduation rates and commitment to meeting students’ financial need.”

Washington Monthly’s rankings focus on what colleges are doing for the good of the country at large by the way they educate their students. The publication measures schools’ success in three key areas—social mobility (admitting and graduating low-income students), research and Ph.D. production and community service—to determine the rankings.

“We find such recognition for Berea’s success in serving students who might otherwise not be able to attend college most gratifying, especially since the criteria for Washington Monthly rankings aligns with Berea’s mission,” said Berea College President Lyle Roelofs. “The economic data and peer surveys that other publications use for their rankings typically favor wealthy, elite colleges. By contrast the Washington Monthly criteria recognizes the value of social mobility, transformative education and service, which are consistent with our ‘Great Commitments’ that inform Berea’s work and inspire support from donors.”

Berea’s distinctive mission is serving low-income students. Between 80 and 90 percent of Berea students receive federal Pell grants and annual household of students’ families is about $29,000. The national graduation rates for that demographic averages only in the mid-teens. By contrast, about two-thirds of Berea’s students graduate on time and a healthy number go on to earn doctoral and other advanced degrees.

The Washington Monthly College Rankings and guide appear online here.

Berea Named One of the Best 385 Colleges in the Princeton Review’s 2020 Guide

Last modified: August 8, 2019
Graduates celebrating in Seabury Center

(Photo: Crystal Wylie ’05)

Princeton Review 2020 CoverThe Princeton Review has once again included Berea College in its just-released publication of The Best 385 Colleges: 2020 Edition.

Berea is nationally recognized for its high-quality education and its distinctive labor program, which hires every admitted student to help operate the school. Berea is also known for its Tuition Promise Scholarship that covers the $44,100 annual tuition cost for every student. That is particularly meaningful for Berea’s students since most come from families making an average of $29,000 and are the first in their families to attend college.

The Princeton Review’s list of best colleges is based on input from students at America’s schools on a survey that asked students 84 questions about their school’s academics, administration, campus community and themselves. The answer format uses a five-point Likert scale to convert qualitative student assessments into quantitative data for school-to-school comparisons. The company does not rank the 385 schools in the book hierarchically, from 1 to 385 in any category. Instead The Princeton Review surveyed 140,000 students at 385 of the nation’s top colleges to rate their schools on dozens of topics important to applicants and their parents.

“Berea’s continued recognition among America’s top schools is gratifying,” said Lyle D. Roelofs, president of Berea College. “Berea’s no-tuition model is especially important to our students whose families seek the kind of high-quality liberal arts education Berea College offers, but cannot afford to pay tuition. The national attention on Berea from organizations such as The Princeton Review helps families connect with a school that will meet their needs. This recognition also puts a spotlight on Berea’s many alumni and friends whose contributions replace tuition so that our student’s outcomes are not limited by their financial situations.” 

“The 385 colleges for this edition were chosen as ‘best’ overall, academically, based on data gathered in 2018–19 from more than a thousand school administrators about their schools’ academic programs and offerings,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief and lead author of the book.

Berea College Nursing Program Named No. 1 Best Value in Kentucky

Last modified: July 29, 2019
Three nursing students performing work on a dummy

Nursing students, from left, Palkyi Palkyi ’20, Bidhya Dhital ’20 and Bridget Bill ’20, administer a nebulizer treatment to the new SimMan Essential High-Fidelity simulator in the nursing wing of the new Margaret A. Cargill Natural Sciences and Health Building. (Photo: Oluwatobi Adejumo ’20)

Berea College has been ranked by Nursing Explorer as the best-value RN program, taking the No. 1 spot out of 39 programs ranked in Kentucky. The annual ranking is made after reviewing data from more than 3,000 U.S. nursing schools. The ranking is based on information from governmental organizations, institutional information from the Department of Education and accreditation information from Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc.

Using National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rate for nursing students and net-price of nursing schools to formulate the ranking parameters, in 2019 Nursing Explorer ranked 1,721 schools across 45 states. A 70 percent weight was assigned to the NCLEX pass rate and a 30 percent weight was given to net-price. The result of the calculation is a score between one and 100 that reflects the quality of education offered at each school and its affordability. If a school has a high NCLEX pass rate and low tuition (or provides sizeable financial aid), then its ranking will be higher.

The data is made available to prospective students through a searchable database to provide students with useful insights into the nursing programs available in every state.

Berea College’s Nursing Department is the oldest college-affiliated program west of the Alleghenies. In keeping with the College’s aims and commitments, the mission of the nursing program is to prepare students with great promise and limited economic resources for the practice of professional nursing in a variety of health care settings and to provide a foundation for graduate study in nursing. Berea’s baccalaureate degree program in nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and is also approved by the Kentucky Board of Nursing.

View the complete list of nursing schools along with their rankings.

Upcoming Event

Berea College Department of Nursing is hosting an educational and interactive experience as distinguished professor and author, Laura Dzurec, PhD, PMHCNS-BC, ANEF, FAAN, presents healthy responses to workplace bullying on Thursday, August 22.

Dr. Dzurec currently serves as Senior Scholar in the Boston College Connell School of Nursing. Previously, she served as Dean at Widener University, Kent State University, and the University of Connecticut and held various posts at Oregon Health Science University, University of Maine, The Ohio State University, Kent State University, and Case Western Reserve University. She is a Fellow in the National League for Nursing’s (USA) Academy of Nursing Education and the American Academy of Nursing.

See full event details, including how to reserve your spot by August 9, here.

Elite and Affordable

Last modified: July 16, 2019

Draper Building

Question: What do Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Princeton and Berea have in common?
Answer:  They were all named as the top five elite universities that also are the most affordable for low-income families.

Skyler Lucci, CEO of HeyTutor, says that with need-blind admissions and generous financial aid programs, “America’s most elite universities are also the most affordable for low-income families while also providing an excellent education.” Berea College is among the top 5.

Using data from research conducted by The Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative at the Brookings Institution, Lucci’s article, published by T74 (the74million.org) states that sometimes students and parents don’t fully understand the financial aid process or the difference between the published and net prices. As a result, low-income students may (wrongly) assume elite schools will be too expensive for them, when in fact, substantial financial resources are available to them. For example, Lucci points out that “Unlike most colleges in the U.S., Berea does not charge tuition in the traditional sense. Instead, it covers costs through endowment income, funds from donations and other sources of financial aid.” The article also states that Berea is an “. . . excellent institution of higher education for students with limited economic means.”

Berea College Named as a Gilman Top Producing Institution

Last modified: March 28, 2019

Spectrum News recently highlighted Berea’s recognition as a Gilman Scholarship top producing institution. View the broadcast above and the full story on the Spectrum News 1 website.

The U.S. Department of State recognized Berea College as one of the U.S. higher education institutions that sent the most students overseas through the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program in academic year 2017-2018.  Berea was noted for its success in making international study and internships more accessible and inclusive for American students of all backgrounds through the Gilman program.

Continue reading Berea College Named as a Gilman Top Producing Institution →

Berea Named a “Best Value” College by the Princeton Review

Last modified: February 6, 2019

Student forming a clay mugBerea College, widely known for its no-tuition policy, is one of the nation’s best colleges for students seeking a superb education with great career preparation at an affordable price, according to The Princeton Review®.

The newly-published 2019 edition of The Princeton Review’s annual guide, The Best Value Colleges: 200 Schools with Exceptional ROI for Your Tuition Investment, recommends colleges considered the nation’s best for academics, affordability and career prospects. The distinction is based on a ROI (return on investment) rating score developed by The Princeton Review that weights more than 40 data points, including data from previous years’ surveys of students and administrators at more than 650 U.S. colleges. Other factors include starting and mid-career salaries and career social impact. Continue reading Berea Named a “Best Value” College by the Princeton Review →

Berea College Ranked among Nation’s Top Colleges

Last modified: October 30, 2018

The 2018-19 academic year is off to a great start at Berea College. Just two months into the semester, the school is making the grade with several national accolades highlighting diversity, affordability, the high-quality liberal arts education students receive, and sustainability.

In September, INSIGHT into Diversity magazine announced that Berea was one of 96 institutions to receive its Higher Education Excellence in Diversity or HEED Award. The award is the only national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion across their campus. Continue reading Berea College Ranked among Nation’s Top Colleges →

Berea College Among the Top 25 B.A. Theatre Programs for 2018-19

Last modified: September 10, 2018
Two theatre students in a production locking eyes

Berea College’s Theatre Department concluded its 125th Anniversary Season with William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which opened April 13, and ran April 14, and 18-21.
(Photo: Desiree Dunn ’20)

OnStage Blog, a media site that covers theatre on an international level, ranked Berea College’s Theatre Department in the top 25 Bachelor of Arts programs in America.  Each year, OnStage Blog reviews theatre programs across the country to provide a resource to prospective students and families who are researching the best academic theatre programs in the country for dance, design, tech and performing. Berea came in at No. 23, with a major highlight of its “First Theatre in Human Culture” course, which studies the first theatres and extant play scripts of selected human cultures representing Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. Continue reading Berea College Among the Top 25 B.A. Theatre Programs for 2018-19 →

Washington Monthly Again Ranks Berea No. 1, Twice; As Best National Liberal Arts College and Best Bang for the Buck in the South

Last modified: August 30, 2018

Washington Monthly once again ranked Berea College No. 1, in two major classifications, citing Berea as the nation’s top liberal arts college and ranking Berea as the Best Bang for the Buck College in the South. Berea’s top rank in the 2018 Washington Monthly College Guide and Rankings comes from its success in educating and graduating academically-talented students who have great financial need to become service-oriented leaders in their professions and communities. Continue reading Washington Monthly Again Ranks Berea No. 1, Twice; As Best National Liberal Arts College and Best Bang for the Buck in the South →

Berea College Highlighted for Low Student Debt, Nationally and Locally

Last modified: August 17, 2018

Berea College captured the national spotlight again for helping students graduate with little or no debt. In a newly-released report focused on student-loan debt for each state, Kentucky’s Berea College was ranked No. 1 among private colleges and universities in the state and fourth among private schools nationwide. Continue reading Berea College Highlighted for Low Student Debt, Nationally and Locally →

Berea College Named as a Gilman Top Producing Institution

Last modified: May 15, 2018

The U.S. Department of State announced its inaugural list of U.S. higher-education institutions that sent the most students overseas on the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program in the 2016-17 academic year. Berea College has been recognized for its success in making international study and internships more accessible and inclusive for American students of all backgrounds through the Gilman Program.

The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, compiles the list, organized by institution size and type. Berea College was cited for success among top small colleges and universities with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates. Only two other schools—Spelman College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute—were in cited in this category. Continue reading Berea College Named as a Gilman Top Producing Institution →

Berea Takes No. 1 Spot for Least Graduate Debt in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Ranking, Named a “Best College Value” Institution

Last modified: May 15, 2018

Berea graduates at midyear commencement 2017Long known for providing access to high-quality, low-cost education, Berea College has again been named as the No. 1 College with Lowest Average Graduating Debt by Kiplinger.

Berea also ranked in the top 50 of Liberal Arts Colleges (#49) in the U.S. and in the top 100 of all colleges and universities (#95) in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of the 300 Best College Values for 2018. Continue reading Berea Takes No. 1 Spot for Least Graduate Debt in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Ranking, Named a “Best College Value” Institution →