Academics - Berea College

Academics

Build your best life.

Recognized as one of Kentucky’s most selective colleges, Berea College combines academic rigor with a diverse and supportive learning community. We encourage our students to explore opportunities that will make their four years unforgettable—from studying abroad, to paid internships and labor positions that allow them to explore their range of interests.

The Berea Experience

9:1

Student-to-Faculty Ratio

That's one faculty member for every nine students.

1,513

Total Student Body

Our students come from 43 states and Washington, D.C., 3 U.S, Territories and 74 Countries other than the U.S.

Major programs of study

Choose a major you're passionate about or design your own Independent Major.

Berea by the Numbers

This is my Classroom

Majors and Minors at Berea College

Berea College offers majors in 33 fields of study, along with 39 minors that can lead to Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and/or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees. Don’t see your exact major? An Independent Major option is available to students who want to pursue a customized field of study that isn’t already an established major program.

Find what interests you

Explore our departments and programs.

Departments & Programs Directory (A – Z)

Interdisciplinary Programs

Because the challenges of the world are not bound by academic discipline, Berea offers a variety of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary academic options to ensure you are prepared as broadly as possible for the world awaiting you.

Faculty Stories

Dr. Troy Messina

Professor of Physics; Chair of Physics Department

We work to develop well-rounded students who can write and speak about physics as well as they can experiment and perform theoretical calculations. We offer a very hands-on curriculum with active learning classrooms. Students also learn computational methods to simulate and model physics.

Berea Helps Students Study Abroad

Whether you find yourself watching a show in London’s West End, hiking through the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador, cuddling with koalas in Australia or negotiating in a Ghanaian market, abroad could be the best place you’ll take your academic career. Let Berea College help you explore the world!

No other college in the nation offers study abroad scholarships and financial aid packages as generous as the ones Berea grants. That’s because we want your pursuit to learn, work or volunteer abroad as accessible to you as possible.

Odreille '27 studies abroad in Italy while studying at Berea College. Here, she is in front of the Trevi Fountain.

Every Berea Student Has a Job

We do things differently at Berea College.

Berea College is one of ten federally recognized Work Colleges. We hire every student to work in campus positions that enhance your education and prepare you for life after college. When Berea students enter the professional world, the experience they have gained in the Labor Program gives them an advantage over graduates from other schools.

Unlimited Access

Cody Myers ’17 credits his role as a student programmer as fundamental in his college education, and as the reason he landed a job at Red Hat, an IBM subsidiary software company.

Read Cody's Story

Emely Zavala at desk with Google on screen

Because Of Berea: Emely’s Story

As a student, Emely Alfaro-Zavala ’21 worked in IS&S, then as a computer science teaching assistant. Now, she works at Google.

Read Emely's Story

Berea Offers Funded Internships

From the classroom to the workplace—take what you’ve learned and turn it into experience. Work with our Office of Internships and Career Development to find or create your ideal internship. Get guidance on receiving academic credit and requesting funds to make it possible.

Employers Hire Berea Grads

Jason McKerr

Vice President for Engineering: Management and Automation

I hired my first Berea intern, and she went from intern to senior software engineer in less than 3 years. This has never happened in my experience. I hired my second Berea intern, and he is on the same track. I want to know what you are doing differently at Berea.