Berea College Welcomes Fall 2025 Incoming Class

Commitment to access and opportunity continues

August 20, 2025

By Sean Hall

BEREA, Ky. – More than 1,500 students returned to the Berea College campus today for the beginning of the 2025-26 academic year. 

Founded in 1855 as the South’s first interracial and coeducational college, Berea College is guided by Rev. John G. Fee’s vision of impartial love and equal opportunity. 

Today, that founding mission lives on through the College’s unique commitment to provide a tuition-free, high-quality education to students of promise, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia. Berea also provides financial aid for housing, meals, and fees up to the amount allowed by each student’s Student Aid Index determined by the FAFSA, all without loans. 

Rev. Fee’s vision is carried forward through Berea’s guiding principles, known as the Great Commitments. 

Berea intentionally serves students who could not otherwise afford a high-quality education, creating a transformative learning community. By welcoming students of limited financial means and unlimited potential, Berea affirms its role as a place of opportunity, where education not only changes lives, but also instills the spirit of impartial love.

This fall, Berea College welcomed 418 first year and 42 transfer students.

The Fall 2025 incoming class reflects Berea’s mission and values:

Since 1892, no student has paid tuition at Berea College. According to U.S. News & World Report, Berea is No. 1 among national liberal arts colleges for the lowest student debt. Every Berea student receives a world-class education, tuition-free, in a supportive community where each student is free to dream and driven to do.

Learn more about Berea College and its Great Commitments at www.berea.edu.