Student Labor Program

"Berea’s Student Labor Program has won worldwide recognition for enabling promising men and women of limited economic means to pursue a college education. Every student holds a part-time job that supports some aspect of the College’s operations, from serving as a teaching assistant to working in the College’s crafts program to maintaining the campus grounds. In this way, students can explore their career interests while giving something back to the College and their community."

The Student Labor Program, a central component of the Berea experience, requires that all students hold a part-time job. This program allows students to contribute to the College and the community by:

• teaching students the necessity of time management and instilling a strong work ethic,
• developing in students an appreciation for all types of work,
• teaching students how to work effectively with others,
• giving students the chance to explore possible career paths, and
• helping students apply their classroom learning.

Through the Labor Program, students can absorb knowledge, gain valuable insights, and render service to others, thereby enacting the College’s three fundamental principles of learning, labor, and service to others.

Student work is essential to most aspects of the operation of Berea College, including its financial-aid program. Students are credited with a labor grant of $4,000 per term in exchange for their participation in the Student Labor Program. Additionally, students earn an hourly wage, ranging from $3.80 to $6.25, as a means of financial aid to help meet the costs of room, meals, books, and personal expenses. While carrying a normal full-time academic load, students can earn 20-60 percent of term costs by working 10 to 15 hours at Labor Program jobs. Additional work hours may be contracted with the approval of the academic, labor, and financial-aid offices. The Labor Program provides students with a keen sense of workplace accountability because it holds them responsible for scheduled work hours and creates performance standards as exacting as academic standards. Each student’s work is evaluated every year. First-year students are assigned to labor positions, while sophomores, juniors, and seniors seek positions in more than 100 Berea College offices, departments, and programs. In all positions, labor mentors provide training, direction, and guidance. Students are expected to seek positions of increasing skill and responsibility as they progress through their years at Berea. To learn more about available positions, please see “Tools: A Guide to the Berea College Labor Program” at www.berea.edu/laborprogramoffice.