Money Names Berea College 20th Best Overall, 10th Best in the South

Berea College sign on campus in the spring

Photo: Tyler Rocquemore ’22

Money Magazine has named Berea College its 20th overall Best College and the 10th Best College in the South.

Editors have also found Berea College to be the best college in affordability. While they do not compile a separate list for affordability, their scoring formula captured Berea as having the best score of all the colleges in their ranking.

“We are excited about Money’s recognition of Berea College in this year’s rankings,” said Berea College President Lyle Roelofs. “As we continue to fulfill our commitment to providing educational opportunities to students who have great promise and limited economic resources —primarily from Appalachia—being recognized for that work ultimately helps us get the word out to students across the globe that even if they think they cannot afford to go to college, at Berea College, that may have that opportunity.”

To compile its 2022 Best Colleges list, Money looked at more than 2,400 four-year colleges with sufficient data and above-average graduation rates. From there, colleges were scored on 24 measures in three areas: quality, affordability and outcomes. In short: quality measures focus on graduation rates; affordability is weighed on the net price of a degree, student and parent borrowing and loan repayment rates; and outcomes are based on median earnings, the share of alumni working and the share of alumni earning more than other high school graduates.

“Berea College was founded as a Christian school with a mission of providing an education accessible to all,” Money says in its description. “In the past that meant Berea was one of the first colleges in the South to open its classes to people of color and women. Today, it means offering a path to a college degree for students with limited economic resources, especially those from the Appalachia region, where the college is located. As such, it’s not surprising that the small, liberal arts college is a standout for affordability, capturing the No. 1 spot for this measure in Money’s rankings. Nearly all first-year undergraduates are eligible for federal Pell Grants. Berea doesn’t charge tuition—all students work a minimum of 10 hours a week… At the end of their college careers students leave with a labor transcript along with a degree.”

For more information, please visit: https://money.com/best-colleges/profile/berea-college/

Money magazine was first published by Time Inc., in 1972. Its articles cover personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement.

About Berea College

Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College only admits academically promising students with limited financial resources—primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia—but welcomes students from 41 states and 76 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student pays for tuition. Berea is one of nine federally recognized Work Colleges, so students work 10 hours or more weekly to earn money for books, housing and meals. The College’s motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth,” speaks to its inclusive Christian character.

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Continue reading Money Names Berea College 20th Best Overall, 10th Best in the South

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

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

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 Nursing Program Named No. 1 Best Value in Kentucky

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.

National Report Shows Berea College Has Lowest Tuition and Fees in the Nation

According to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), Berea College is the nation’s least expensive private college when calculating the costs of tuition and fees, and continues to be a model institution for making college accessible and affordable for students with great promise but limited financial resources. Continue reading National Report Shows Berea College Has Lowest Tuition and Fees in the Nation

Berea College’s Top 10 Moments in 2011 (#6-10)

In many ways it was a banner year full of significant challenges, accomplishments and change at Berea College. We saw alumni serving as leaders in their communities, students learning and growing and showing that they, indeed, have lives of great promise, faculty and staff earning impressive professional achievements, and the college as an institution undergoing (perhaps unprecedented) significant positive change. It was difficult limiting our list to just 10, and there are many honorable mentions that didn’t make the cut, including: Carter G. Woodson Center planned, student Shai Anderson named Kentucky Student Employee of the Year, the progression of Grow Appalachia (a program funded by John Paul DeJoria, co-founder and CEO of Paul Mitchell Products), the Hal Moses Summer Research Internship Program at Vanderbilt, the Bluegrass Ensemble and Country Dancers’ performances in New York City, administrators and alumni presenting during a Capitol Hill briefing on the Pell Grant program, Erin Finsel selected as a Compton Mentor Fellow, the Black Cultural Center’s alternative spring break in Harlem, and the college being named a Top 100 Social Media College, among many others. We were here for it all, and here are our top 10 moments for Berea College this year. Continue reading Berea College’s Top 10 Moments in 2011 (#6-10)

Berea College #1 in Washington Monthly’s 2011 College Rankings

Washington Monthly has named Berea College (Kentucky) as the nation’s top liberal arts college in its 2011 College Rankings. Berea was ranked number one because of its success in educating and graduating academically talented, low-income students who become service-oriented leaders in their professions and communities. Continue reading Berea College #1 in Washington Monthly’s 2011 College Rankings

Berea College named “a best in the southeast” by The Princeton Review

Berea College is one of the best colleges in the southeast according to the nationally known education services company, The Princeton Review.  It is one of 135 institutions The Princeton Review recommends in its “Best in the Southeast” section of its website feature, “2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region,” that posted August 1, 2011 on PrincetonReview.com. This is the fourth time Berea has been recognized as one of the publication’s best colleges. Continue reading Berea College named “a best in the southeast” by The Princeton Review