college, based on the WLS ("Work, Learning, and Service") level attached to individual labor positions. 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.
=== Folk dance ===
Berea is widely known as a folk dance hub, teaching square, contra, English, and other kinds of movement. The college offers community folk dances most weekends. The campus has ten dance groups (including Middle Eastern, Swing, Latino, African, and hip hop), a minor in dance, and 25 dance classes.
Physical education instructor Oscar Gunkler brought folk dance to Berea in the 1920s. The Berea College Country Dancers were founded in 1938 by Frank Smith. Berea's annual Christmas Country Dance School was started the same year by Smith and May Gadd, the first director of the Country Dance and Song Society.
Berea's …
