Berea College donor covers course-specific fees for students

Students at Berea College learned on the first day of class that a donor decided to cover all course-specific fees for this academic year. Berea College already has a number of ways to make tuition affordable for students.

“We have been tuition free for over 100 years, since 1892,” said Berea College President Cheryl Nixon. “As part of that, we’ve put together a great scholarship package, a lot of donations from donors, and students do work on campus. They have a four-year guaranteed job where they’re working side by side with faculty and staff in an internship model.”

These avenues considerably lower the cost of attending college, allowing students to graduate with less debt. This includes junior nursing student Prae Mo.

“I was born in the refugee camp of Thailand,” Mo said. “Coming from an underserved community, choosing nursing allows me to give back to the community that I want to serve. Choosing Berea as well also alleviated the financial stress, because I come from a low-income family.”

Although the school takes care of tuition, a few areas still require payments from students and their families.

Nixon said, "(An) anonymous donor was very interested in thinking through, 'How can we make education even more affordable?' We landed on the idea that many courses have a course fee, and the donor said, let’s wipe out those fees. Let’s make sure that students have no barriers to their academic experience.”

Course fees can range from $10 to around $150 per course, and it includes materials, lab expenses, art supplies, and even travel costs. Nursing students like Mo often have the largest expenses.

“Berea has blessed us with many things, especially me coming from a low-income family,” Mo said. “Covering the course fees means that I get to be more independent and not financially put that dependence on my family.”

This donation covers fees for this current academic year, but Berea College officials hope they can continue a partnership like this into the future.