Tuition-free since 1892

Berea is a special place. Founded in 1855 as the South's first interracial and co-educational college, Berea has been unique from the outset. And for over 130 years, the College has not charged its students tuition.

We only serve students with limited resources and unlimited potential. Every student at Berea College is part of a unique and inclusive mission that reflects equal opportunity. Berea offers a world-class education to students of high potential, but who come from families of limited resources. We believe our students deserve access to life-changing educational opportunities, without the shackles of tuition-debt.

Unlike other colleges where tuition revenue provides most of the funding, we put our endowment to work by using investment returns to help pay for every student's tuition. Our endowment earnings provide nearly three-quarters of our operating budget or about 76%. Another 16% comes from state and federal aid. Generous donors like you help us raise the remaining 8% every year.

Our mission is impossible without generosity.

To continue our mission, we must raise nearly $5 million annually. Thanks to our donors, we have met this goal each year, enabling Berea College to continue educating those with high academic promise and limited economic means by providing nearly 1,500 deserving students with a Tuition Promise Scholarship.

A Berea education impacts EVERYONE. Society as a whole benefits from an educated populace. We have example after example of Berea alumni who have changed the world. But to be very specific, we benefit first-generation and low-income college students who otherwise could not afford to pay for their education. We benefit the Appalachian region when graduates return to their hometowns and invest in their communities. And we benefit a society struggling with issues of equity, diversity and equality. Our motto—God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth—speaks to our inclusive mission to benefit as many people as possible.