Berea College recently beat more than 1,400 other schools in Washington Monthly’s annual ranking of American colleges and universities. The school hasn’t charged tuition since 1892 and was named the “number one best college for your tuition and tax dollars.”
Officials at Berea College are concerned about the possible impact of federal cuts to funding. Students at Berea College do not pay a traditional type of tuition. Students work various jobs across campus instead of paying to attend.
Cheryl Nixon is the president of Berea College. She said that type of work is federally funded, and losing that could cause some problems.
“We rely on federal funding of Pell Grants, and that work college model, that is also federal funding. Other schools use work study, we're a unique version called a work college. Both of those forms of funding, we're worried will get reduced.”
Nixon said recent changes to Pell Grant eligibility have her concerned as well. She says they look for all of their students to be Pell eligible and that economics should not be a barrier to furthering one's education.
She said students need fewer barriers to education, not more.
“We hope it doesn't lead to a loss of funding, but most importantly, we don't want it to lead to a loss of opportunity for students that are coming from a background where they need economic support. Those students need a college education if they want it,” Nixon said.
Nixon said Berea College serves just over 1,500 students. She said of the entering first-year class, 74% are from Kentucky and Appalachia.
Berea College is a financial supporter of WEKU.
