Berry College

Private · Moderately Selective · GA

Photo: Froggerlaura (CC BY 3.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationGA · South

SettingSuburban

Undergrads2,245

Student:faculty12:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate62.8%

6-yr grad rate69.5%

Drop-out rate16.5%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$42k

Out-of-state tuition$42k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity28.5%

Gender diversity62.4%

International0.5%

Identity—

Overview

Berry College, near Rome, Georgia, occupies the world's largest contiguous college campus, tens of thousands of acres of woodlands, fields, lakes, and mountain trails that are genuinely part of daily life rather than a scenic backdrop. Its signature is a required student work program: nearly every student holds a real campus job, from historic building restoration to farm operations to administrative roles, as a condition of enrollment rather than an optional aid program.

Academics

Animal science, education, and business are the strongest academic areas, each drawing directly on the campus's working farms and land resources. Class sizes stay small, and the work program often doubles as applied experience directly relevant to a student's major.

Campus & student life

The scale of the campus is the defining feature of student life. Deer are a constant presence, hiking and outdoor recreation are built into the culture, and the historic core buildings, many maintained partly through student labor, give campus an unusually self-sufficient character.

Getting in

Berry's process is holistic, and because the work program is mandatory for all students, the application implicitly screens for applicants comfortable with that structure; willingness to work is part of the cultural fit the college looks for.

Worth knowing

The work program isn't a financial-aid perk for some students, it's essentially universal, and it shapes the entire campus economy and culture. The sheer size of the land holding is not exaggeration; it materially changes what a normal week on campus looks like.

berry.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate64%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1125–1330 · ACT 22–28

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 15

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying