Editing Berea College (section)

===Scholarships and work program===
Berea College provides all students with full-tuition scholarships and many receive support for room and board as well. Berea College charges no tuition beyond the total amount a student receives in Pell Grant and other grants and scholarships. Every admitted student at Berea College is granted the equivalent of a four-year, full-tuition scholarship that covers the remaining tuition fees after deducting any grants and scholarships the student may have received. Admission to the college is granted only to students who need financial assistance (as determined by the [[FAFSA]]); in general, applications are accepted only from those whose family income falls within the bottom 40% of U.S. households. About 75% of the college's incoming class is drawn from the Appalachian region of the South and some adjoining areas, and about 8% are international students. Generally, no more than one student is admitted from a given country in a single year (with the exception of countries in distress such as [[Liberia]]). This policy ensures that 70 or more nationalities are usually represented in the student body of Berea College. All international students are admitted on full scholarships with the same regard for financial need as U.S. students.<ref>{{cite web |title=Admission Requirements: Prospective Students |url=https://www.berea.edu/admissions/academic-requirements/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091025171003/http://www.berea.edu/prospectivestudents/admissioninfo/requirements.asp |archive-date=2009-10-25 |access-date=2009-10-14}}</ref>

In order to support its extensive scholarship program, Berea College has one of the largest financial reserves of any American college when measured on a per-student basis. The endowment was $1.6 billion as of June 30, 2021.<ref name=nacubo>As of June 30, 2018. {{cite web |url=https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/research/2018-Endowment-Market-Values--Final.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/research/2018-Endowment-Market-Values--Final.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2017 to FY 2018 |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund Institute |year= 2018 |access-date=2019-07-03}}</ref> The base of Berea College's finances is dependent on substantial contributions from alumni and from individuals, foundations, and corporations that support the mission of the college. A solid investment strategy increased the endowment from $150 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=150000000|start_year=1985}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in 1985 to its current amount.<ref>Brull, Steven. (September 2005). "Appalachian spring". ''Institutional Investor'', p. 35.</ref>

In 2017 the [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]] enacted an excise tax of 1.4% of endowment incomes that exceed net assets of at least $500,000 per student. Due to the size of Berea's endowment and number of full-time enrolled students, this tax bill would have reduced the number of students it could serve. The [[Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018]] provided an exemption for colleges and universities with fewer than 500 tuition-paying students, making Berea College exempt as it provides tuition-free education to all students.<ref>{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Critley |title=Berea College endowment receives tax exemption |url=https://www.richmondregister.com/news/berea-college-endowment-receives-tax-exemption/article_5c78404a-0def-11e8-9b12-53b423e0ebd7.html |access-date=9 October 2023 |work=Richmond Register |date=9 February 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

As a [[work college]], Berea has a student work program in which all students work on campus 10 or more hours per week. Berea is one of nine federally recognized work colleges in the [[United States]] and one of two in [[Kentucky]] ([[Alice Lloyd College]] being the other) to have mandatory work study programs. Employment opportunities range from busing tables at the [[Boone Tavern|Boone Tavern Hotel]], a historic business owned by the college, to leading campus tours for visitors and prospective students, or making brooms, ceramics and woven items in Student Craft. Other job duties include janitorial labor, building management, resident assistant, teaching assistant, food service, gardening and grounds keeping, [[information technology]], [[woodworking]], and secretarial work. Berea College has helped make the [https://visitberea.com/ town] a center for quality arts and crafts.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Our Labor Program- Berea College |url=https://www.berea.edu/labor-program-office/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005042755/http://www.berea.edu/laborprogram/about.asp |archive-date=2009-10-05 |access-date=2009-10-14}}</ref>

As of 2022, students are paid an hourly wage from $5.60 to $8.60 by the college, based on the WLS ("Work, Learning, and Service") level attached to individual labor positions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berea.edu/labor-program-office/pay-schedule-scale/|title=Pay Schedule & Scale|access-date=2020-07-10}}</ref> The college regularly increases student pay on a yearly basis, but it has never been equivalent to the federal minimum wage in the school's history. Because of the scheduling demands of both an academic requirement and a labor requirement, students are not allowed to work at off-campus jobs.