5 Things to Know About Work Colleges

At most colleges, students work to earn money while they pursue a degree.

But at the country’s nine recognized work colleges, labor is built into the fabric of the institution, part of their ethos and infrastructure. And for some students, those jobs mean the difference between earning a degree and not attending college at all.

In recent months, Inside Higher Ed has visited work colleges and spoken with administrators, faculty members, students and supporters on and off campus. The picture that emerged shows a unique set of institutions that are focused on labor as both part of the educational experience and a pathway to financial freedom. And they use a model that aims to keep costs down and provide students with opportunities to help them find their footing in future careers.

Inside Higher Ed found that many practices that other institutions are increasingly adopting—such as an emphasis on demonstrable work skills and experiences—have deep roots at work colleges. And while the model holds significant promise for helping students graduate with less debt, or none at all, the sector hasn’t grown, due to significant costs and complexities.

Here are five takeaways from our reporting on this small corner of the higher education sector.

1. A Mission to Uplift Students

Work colleges are heavily focused on serving low-income students who have minimal resources to pay for their education. Financial need isn’t just a consideration in admissions; at some institutions—like Berea College, which only admits low-income students—it’s a requirement.

Student stories on those campuses are both hopeful and heart-wrenching.

Karen, a Berea student and child of immigrants who grew up a few hours away from campus in a small town in rural Kentucky, chose nursing because of her family’s experience. (Inside Higher Ed is not using her full name due to sensitive immigration issues.) Her father, who is undocumented, was diagnosed with diabetes, but he struggled to receive care and was turned away by some hospitals due to his immigration status, lack of insurance and a language barrier, she said. She also watched as her mother struggled with pregnancy complications with her younger sister, which doctors dismissed. Those injustices, she said, inspired her to pursue a career in health care.

But finding a pathway to pursue higher education was complicated, and she almost gave up on pursuing a degree before she even started.

“I originally was not planning to go to college. I had no way of paying for college,” she said.

Karen ultimately discovered Berea, which allowed her to pursue a degree that would have otherwise been out of reach. Now she’s working on a nursing degree with dreams of becoming a doctor and opening her own clinic to help patients like her parents who go underserved.

Josh Moody/Inside Higher Ed

2. A Long Road to Recognition

Work colleges have been around for a long time—the designation hasn’t. Berea went tuition-free in 1892, and the roots of its student labor program stretch back even further. College of the Ozarks and Alice Lloyd College have also emphasized student labor for more than 100 years.

Congress didn’t create the formal federal work-college designation until 1992, though work colleges began collaborating in the early 1970s on ways to improve their model.

But federal recognition has not led to a surge of work colleges. The number of federally designated work colleges has long hovered at about 10. Some institutions with that designation have closed, such as Sterling College in Vermont, which shut down this spring. Others, like Bethany Global University, are no longer recognized as federal work colleges. But the sector has also seen new entrants in recent years, like Paul Quinn in 2017, Kuyper College in 2021 and Antioch College in 2024. Paul Smith’s College in New York is also making a push to become a work college.

The designation opens up access to some federal funding, including a small pot of money. Last fiscal year, recognized work colleges received just over $11 million in a dedicated federal appropriation—money that is split among those institutions. The designation also opens up more federal work-study funds, though colleges must make matching financial commitments.

They also must reapply for the federal designation every year.

3. Models Vary

While work colleges often share a similar philosophy, they differ in what jobs they prioritize and how the students’ jobs are structured, among other differences.

Three colleges have long-standing tuition-free models: Berea College, College of the Ozarks, and Alice Lloyd College (though the latter limits that offer to full-time students from 108 counties in central Appalachia). Berea recently announced that it would cover costs beyond tuition, while College of the Ozarks offers students free room and board if they work on campus over the summer.

Endowments help Berea and College of the Ozarks make those pledges to students—Berea’s is valued at $1.8 billion, while Ozarks’ is $703 million, according to recent figures. No other work colleges come close to those figures. A 2026 study found that some work colleges are still fairly reliant on tuition despite their models. For example, tuition made up 67 percent of revenue at Ecclesia College in Arkansas.

The work itself also varies by institution. Many work colleges place students in jobs on campus. Paul Quinn—the only historically Black work college—provides some campus jobs, but relies on corporate partners and nonprofits to provide student placements.

For far too long, folks have felt like what Appalachia needs is to throw money at it. What Appalachia needs is for folks to commit themselves to long-term solutions to long-term problems, and education can be the greatest equalizer if it’s given to folks in an equitable way.”

—Jessica Peña, director of admissions at Berea

But in the end, they all have to meet the same federal requirements, which include minimums for program participation, the number of hours students work in a semester and an infrastructure to help manage workers, track their hours and keep records of how they perform in their jobs.

4. Rooted in Place and Mission

Work colleges are spread across just eight states—Kentucky has two: Berea and Alice Lloyd. Of the nine recognized work colleges, most are located in rural areas, except for Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Paul Quinn, in Dallas. Those locations shape the mission and jobs available to students.

For instance, College of the Ozarks is located near a tourism hub in Branson, Mo., which opens up opportunities for students in the on-campus hotel, restaurant and event space. Berea has made significant investments in its craft program, in which students make traditional brooms and other items rooted in Appalachian culture. Multiple other campuses with large swaths of land lean into agriculture, forestry and conservation for student job placements, whereas Paul Quinn tapped into the booming business sector in Dallas.

Josh Moody/Inside Higher Ed

For work colleges, their local communities often come first.

Berea recruiters, for example, don’t stray far from campus. Committed to serving Appalachia, the college has admissions staff in parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Although Berea enrolls students from almost every state, it does not have national recruiters, but it does have partnerships with some schools in large metropolitan areas, such as Chicago. Berea also has a small international student population but doesn’t recruit abroad.

Jessica Peña, director of admissions at Berea, noted that many of the people leaving the region are doing so because of a perceived lack of opportunity. But Berea’s mission is to provide that.

“For far too long, folks have felt like what Appalachia needs is to throw money at it,” she said. “What Appalachia needs is for folks to commit themselves to long-term solutions to long-term problems, and education can be the greatest equalizer if it’s given to folks in an equitable way.”

5. Awareness Is Lacking

Multiple students said they had never heard of a work college before their search. Perhaps that’s unsurprising, since these nine institutions enroll only about 6,000 students altogether.

But students also told Inside Higher Ed that if they hadn’t found their way to a work college, they had no idea how they would fund their dreams. Some students said they wouldn’t have gone to college at all, due to difficult financial circumstances and a highly competitive scholarship environment.

Josh Moody/Inside Higher Ed

Deina Reyes, a freshman from El Paso, Tex., was recruited to play soccer at Paul Quinn. Although Reyes said her grades were good coming out of high school, landing scholarships proved difficult, so she worked feverishly to help finance her higher education dreams.

“I started working as soon as I knew I was going to go to college, so I had two jobs at the time, trying to see if I could rack up some money before coming here,” Reyes said. “But I was really concerned. I couldn’t tell you how stressed I was. I signed up for every scholarship you could possibly think of, and I still didn’t even get 25 percent of them back. It’s really competitive.”

Now Reyes is an intern in the president’s office, working in a role that helps fund her education.

Azaria Powell, a freshman from Grand Rapids, was also uncertain of how she would finance her education until she found her way to Paul Quinn. Powell, who comes from a single-parent home, a low-income background and has experienced homelessness, planned to attend another HBCU until it proved far too expensive, even with financial aid.

“It’s just me, my mom and my sister, and we have faced adversity over the years. Back home, I am technically classified as homeless. I already knew when I started high school, and probably even early into middle school, that my mom was not going to be able to help me pay tuition,” Powell said.

She’s also an intern in the president’s office.

Paul Quinn President Michael Sorrell notes that high school counselors are stretched thin, and he believes that limited time with students means they don’t always offer a full menu of options.

“When you are hopelessly overworked, you look for the path of least resistance: state schools, publicly funded state flagships and regional institutions,” Sorrell said.

For Rock Azarro, it was a baseball coach, not a counselor, who introduced him to work colleges.

A junior at College of the Ozarks double majoring in accounting and finance, he grew up outside Kansas City, Mo., only a few hours away from the institution he would end up attending. But he didn’t know about the college until his baseball coach told him. Azarro was immediately drawn to the college because it was an answer to cost concerns, which loomed large for his family. He also liked the faith community and the idea of gaining work experience. Although he had never heard of work colleges, he now sees the experience as invaluable.

“It really sets up your future more than anyone could ever realize,” Azarro said.