Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Feb 1953.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
85 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
51 people listed on the 990; $2.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Nixon Cheryl L’s $431K as President is at the 29th percentile of top reported officer pay among 674 $100M+ education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roelofs Lyle D | $280,626 | $497,421 | $487,772 | $421,594 | $383,677 | $366,478 |
| Nixon Cheryl L | $430,956 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Berry Chad | $288,204 | $251,979 | $202,490 | $187,018 | $183,266 | $185,054 |
| Wilson II Judge B | $286,989 | $274,325 | $261,237 | $252,919 | $247,674 | $247,739 |
| Nixon Cheryl L Started July 2023 | — | $236,227 | — | — | — | — |
| Amburgey Jeffrey S | $220,187 | $201,571 | $190,341 | $180,470 | $177,735 | $172,240 |
| Steele Scott | $207,317 | $193,185 | $178,414 | $175,523 | $134,703 | — |
| Singleton Derrick | $205,869 | $196,665 | $188,434 | $180,792 | $181,010 | $175,311 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Provides tuition-free higher education, residential housing, and dining services to high-achieving students with limited financial resources.
Questions for Berea College
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PUBLIC SERVICE-Aligned with its mission, Berea College has a commitment to engage with Appalachian communities through a variety of in-reach and outreach programs. Four such initiatives-Partners for Education, Grow Appalachia, Brushy Fork Leadership Institute, and the Appalachian Fund-exist primarily on external funds.
Instruction
Expenditures of academic departments and other instruction activities benefiting approximately 1,600 students.
Student Services
Student support services such as admissions, student life, health services, labor program, and financial aid.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $76.9M | $82.8M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $1.28B | $1.28B |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $185.3M | $186.3M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $1.62B | $1.64B |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $72.2M | $70.5M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $1.54B | $1.57B |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $694K | $694K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $6.3M | $6.3M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $2.2M | $662K | $1.3M | $291K |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $686K | $457K | $69K | $160K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $50.6M | $41.0M | $6.1M | $3.5M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $3.1M | $2.6M | $310K | $219K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $4.8M | $4.0M | $476K | $337K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $3.2M | $2.7M | $320K | $226K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $86K | $86K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $113K | $113K | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $16K | $16K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $497K | $497K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $558K | $558K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $505K | $342K | $163K | $0 |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $162K | $118K | $44K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $1.1M | $850K | $218K | $57K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $2.2M | $120K | $2.1M | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $2.0M | $1.8M | $119K | $48K |
| TravelLn 17 | $773K | $568K | $136K | $69K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $512K | $409K | $90K | $14K |
| InterestLn 20 | $909K | $736K | $170K | $3K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $9.6M | $9.1M | $351K | $150K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $603K | $551K | $36K | $15K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $42.8M | $42.5M | $230K | $83K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $8.5M | $6.1M | $1.8M | $686K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $142.7M | $121.6M | $14.7M | $6.4M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $212.3M | $129.9M | $82.4M | $2.2B | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $139.3M | $121.4M | $17.8M | $2.0B | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $157.5M | $134.1M | $23.4M | $1.9B | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $243.1M | $155.5M | $87.6M | $1.8B | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $183.3M | $140.5M | $42.8M | $1.9B | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $205.2M | $142.7M | $62.5M | $1.6B | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $205,202,087 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 31 of 34 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $205,202,087 across 11 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $142,734,145 across 25 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $1,637,313,850 assets, 20 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,566,845,425 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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