Berea College is distinctive among institutions of higher learning. Berea awards four-year tuition scholarships to all its students, who because of financial circumstances cannot otherwise afford a high-quality, residential, liberal arts education.
All students are required to work at least 10 hours per week in campus and service jobs. Berea's student labor program creates an atmosphere of democratic living that emphasizes the dignity of all work and provides opportunities for students to earn money for their rooms, books and board.
Alumni from Berea distinguish themselves and the college in many fields. Graduates include community leaders throughout the region, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, a U.S. Cabinet Secretary, the inventor of touch screen technology, and other alumni who live out the college's motto: "God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth."