Berry College covers more than 27,000 acres of fields, forest and mountain north of Rome, which makes it the largest contiguous college campus in the world. Deer graze beside English Gothic halls that Henry Ford paid for. Every student can hold a paid campus job, a tradition that goes back to founder Martha Berry's 1902 school for rural boys, where pupils worked in exchange for their education.
About this site
Berry College is a college & university in Rome, Floyd County. It is one of 3 colleges & universities documented in Floyd County, among 160 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 34.2818, -85.1857 near Rome. The nearest cataloged historic site is Martha Berry’s Birthplace (historical marker), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Berry College Chapel Cemetery, Original Cabin, and OAK Hill & the Martha Berry Museum.
This record is drawn from Georgia Roam. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
What makes Berry College different
Its 27,000-plus acres make it the largest contiguous college campus in the world, and big sections of it are open to the public for hiking, cycling and horseback riding on more than 80 miles of trails. en.wikipedia.org
Henry and Clara Ford paid for the Ford Buildings, the English Gothic quadrangle of stone halls and reflecting pools that became the campus showpiece. berry.edu
Student workers built the Old Mill's wooden overshot waterwheel in 1930. At 42 feet across, it is one of the largest in the nation, and it is still turned on for special occasions such as Mountain Day. berry.edu
A pair of bald eagles has nested on the main campus since 2012. They were the reason Berry moved its planned football stadium to another site, and a nest camera streams them online. berry.edu
Through the LifeWorks program, every student can hold up to eight semesters of paid campus work. The program descends from Martha Berry's original arrangement, in which students worked in return for their schooling. berry.edu
The campus has doubled as a film set for 'Remember the Titans', 'Sweet Home Alabama', the TV series 'Constantine' and season four of 'Stranger Things'. en.wikipedia.org
Students and staff built the House o' Dreams on top of Lavender Mountain in 1922 as a gift to Martha Berry. It still looks out over the campus and northwest Georgia. berry.edu
Martha Berry was the daughter of a Rome cotton merchant. She began by teaching Sunday school to mountain children who had neither a church nor a school. In 1902 she used 83 acres inherited from her father to open the Boys Industrial School, a boarding school where students worked to build and run the campus in exchange for their education. A girls' school followed in 1909. In 1926 the Berry Schools added a junior college, which soon became a four-year college and graduated its first class in 1932.
Berry was a tireless fundraiser who drew support from the country's elite. Henry and Clara Ford paid for the Gothic stone quadrangle now called the Ford Buildings. Land purchases pushed the property toward 30,000 acres by the 1930s, and in 1930 Good Housekeeping named her one of the twelve most influential women in America. After her death in 1942, donations fell, and the girls' school closed in 1955. Under President John R. Bertrand, who took office in 1956, the trustees chose to build up the college. It gained regional accreditation in 1957, opened admission to city students, and began paying student workers instead of crediting their accounts. The boys' school, later Berry Academy, closed in 1983.
Today Berry is a private liberal arts college with about 2,500 students and a member of the Annapolis Group of national liberal arts colleges. It moved to NCAA Division III and was a founding member of the Southern Athletic Association in 2012. Sandeep Mazumder became its ninth president in July 2025.
#4 in Regional Universities South — U.S. News & World Report, 2026source
#1 Best Value and #1 Undergraduate Teaching, Regional Universities South — U.S. News & World Report, 2026source
#2 Most Innovative, Regional Universities South — U.S. News & World Report, 2026source
The Best 391 Colleges (and 'Best of the South' list) — The Princeton Review, 2026source
Best Value Colleges (209 schools) — The Princeton Review, 2025source
America's Top Colleges (500 schools) — Forbes, 2026source
Best Colleges in the U.S. — The Wall Street Journal / College Pulse, 2026source
Majors & programs
Berry organizes its majors into four schools, with a liberal arts core and a paid work experience built into every student's four years. Animal science is the college's largest major. The list below shows the majors and graduate programs on Berry's academic programs page in September 2026, leaving out minor-only and pre-professional tracks. Check the official list for the latest.
Known for
Animal Science
Berry's largest major, taught in a 23,000-square-foot Animal Science Building that opened in 2021 on a campus with room for working farm operations.
Known for
Business
The Campbell School of Business is AACSB-accredited, and Berry has centers for entrepreneurship and student-run enterprises.
Known for
Nursing
CCNE-accredited and based in the Morgan-Bailey Health Sciences Center.
Known for
Environmental Science
Students have 27,000 acres of forest, streams and mountain habitat right on campus for field research.
Known for
Music
NASM-accredited. Performances take place in the Betty Anne Rouse Bell Recital Hall, which opened in 2020 inside the historic Ford Auditorium.
Known for
Education
Offered through the Charter School of Education and Human Sciences, with M.Ed. and Ed.S. programs for working teachers.
All degree programs at Berry College (50)
Campbell School of Business
Accounting
Business
Data Analytics
Economics
Finance
International Business
Management
Marketing
Master of Business Administration · MBA
Charter School of Education and Human Sciences
Education
Exercise Science
Nursing
Psychology
Sport Leadership and Strategy
Master of Education · M.Ed.
Education Specialist · Ed.S.
Physician Associate (graduate)
Evans School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Collin McHugh — MLB pitcher and 2017 World Series champion with the Houston Astros (attended) en.wikipedia.org
Darren Barnet — actor who played Paxton in Netflix's 'Never Have I Ever' (B.A., 2013) en.wikipedia.org
Heather Willauer — U.S. Naval Research Laboratory chemist known for making synthetic fuel from seawater (B.S. in chemistry, 1996) en.wikipedia.org
John Junkins — aerospace engineer and former interim president of Texas A&M University (attended) en.wikipedia.org
Ashley Herring Blake — author of 'Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World' and 'Girl Made of Stars' (master's degree) en.wikipedia.org
Mason Kinsey — NFL wide receiver; caught 50 touchdown passes for the Vikings and won four straight SAA titles en.wikipedia.org
Where graduates work
99% of Berry graduates report that their Berry education led to a job or to acceptance into graduate or professional school. That is Berry's own figure, from graduate self-reports published on its outcomes and admissions pages. Its 2023–24 student success report separately found that 63% of the Class of 2022 were working full time within six months of graduating and 27.5% had gone on to further study. The employers below are the ones Berry features as destinations for its graduates. berry.edu
DeloitteAonDelta Air LinesEY (Ernst & Young)E*TradeChick-fil-AFlexportThe Home DepotWalt Disney WorldProcter & GambleNCR
IHSA equestrian national championships in 2011, 2015 and 2016 en.wikipedia.org
Football, first played in 2013, won its seventh SAA title in 2025 youtube.com
Home venues: Steven J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center (2,000-seat arena, natatorium) · Valhalla Stadium (football, track, lacrosse) · Rome Tennis Center at Berry College
Berry College: The Gate of Opportunity | Georgia Stories · GPB EducationMartha McChesney Berry · Georgia Women of AchievementBerry's Land History · VikingFusionBerry College Bald Eagles Are Very Popular Online · Farm MonitorWhy Georgia Episode 11: Berry College · Gray MediaBerry College Football Celebrates 7th SAA Title · Berry College
Is Berry College really the largest campus in the world?
Yes. At more than 27,000 acres, it is the largest contiguous college campus in the world, taking in fields, forests and Lavender Mountain north of Rome.
Can you visit Berry College's campus?
Yes. Visitors can drive the campus, and designated trails are open to the public for hiking, biking and horseback riding. Oak Hill & The Martha Berry Museum offers tours. Check berry.edu for current rules and hours.
What division is Berry College?
The Berry Vikings compete in NCAA Division III as a founding member of the Southern Athletic Association.
What is Berry College known for?
Its enormous, deer-filled campus and the Ford Buildings, its LifeWorks paid student-work program, and strong regional rankings. U.S. News ranked it #4 among Regional Universities South for 2026. Animal science is its largest major.
How many students go to Berry College?
2,484 in Fall 2024 (2,254 undergraduates), according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Who founded Berry College?
Martha Berry, who opened the Boys Industrial School in 1902 on 83 acres she had inherited. Students worked to help run the school in exchange for their education.
What movies were filmed at Berry College?
Scenes from 'Remember the Titans' and 'Sweet Home Alabama', Disney's 'Perfect Harmony', the TV series 'Constantine', and parts of season four of 'Stranger Things'.
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