AMHERST, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – Hampshire College’s board of trustees has announced that the college will be closing at the end of the year.
Since 2019, the college has been working to address financial headwinds, declining enrollment, rising costs, and unstable funding environment. A financial stability plan was enacted, which included raising more than $55 million. In a statement, they said that the closure comes “after years of sustained effort to secure the college’s financial future through enrollment growth, debt refinancing, and land development,” but those efforts did not produce a “viable path forward.”
“Since its founding in 1965, Hampshire College has been home to deeply curious, creative people who have radically reimagined what a liberal arts education can be. We have kept our commitment to one another – leaving no stone unturned, no solution unexplored, and making many sacrifices along the way. The timing of this decision assures that we can carefully steward the institution’s limited financial resources to facilitate a transition that allows our current students to complete their undergraduate education (either here or at a partner institution), is respectful of our faculty and staff, maintains the value of a Hampshire College degree, and honors the lasting legacy of Hampshire and its alumni,” said Hampshire College President Jennifer Chrisler in a statement.
The closure will take effect at the end of the upcoming fall semester. Those currently enrolled at Hampshire will continue to receive provide academic, student life, and transitional services. However, the college will not admit a new class and all deposits for admitted students will be refunded.
“Nearly every trustee is an alum, and we share in the community’s heartbreak. The financial realities we face: declining enrollment, the weight of long-standing debt, and stalled progress on land development left us no other responsible path. Our commitment now is to ensure that every student, employee, and member of this community is treated with the care and respect they deserve,” said board chair Jose Fuentes in a statement.
Final year, or Division III, students will be eligible to complete their degrees at Hampshire through the end of the fall semester. First through third year, or Division I and II, students will receiving advising services and access to transfers pathways at partner colleges and universities, including:
- Amherst College
- Bennington College
- Massachusetts College of Art and Design
- Massachusetts College of the Liberal Arts
- Mount Holyoke College
- Prescott College
- Smith College
- UMass Amherst
Faculty and staff will also receive assistance with information, resources, and support as the closure nears. A website has been launched to help answer questions and provide information for students, faculty, staff, and the public.
Five Colleges, notable alumni react
Filmmaker Ken Burns, Hampshire Class of 1971, said in a statement:
“Hampshire College is woven into the very fabric of who I am. It’s where I learned that there is freedom in searching, and even in failure. I learned to use that freedom to question everything, and ultimately to find my voice as a storyteller in a way that would have been inconceivable at a conventional institution. Jennifer led this community with uncommon grace, care, and determination. I witnessed her fierceness firsthand, along with the potent and abiding zeal of students, faculty, and alumni who fought to preserve Hampshire’s independence at every turn. This is an incalculable loss, the reverberations of which will be felt in ways none of us can imagine, but at the same time I know that Hampshire’s ethos and probing way of seeing the world doesn’t disappear when a campus goes quiet. The thousands of lives transformed by this miraculous, improbable place will carry its revolutionarily generative spirit forward for generations to come.”
Dr. Sarah Pfatteicher, executive director of the Five College Consortium, said in a statement:
“We are deeply saddened by the news that Hampshire College will cease operations at the end of this year and what this means for students, faculty, staff, and alumni. This is a loss for them, but also for the Connecticut River Valley, and for young students everywhere who thrive on creativity and individuality. The Five College Consortium, working with its member campuses, will seek to assist in the transition of students to other programs. Hampshire College was forged from a collaborative and committed spirit, and we will call on those same values as we help those served by the college and those who serve it to discover their next chapter.”
Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Organic and Hampshire Class of 1972, added, in a statement:
“As a proud alum, the news that Hampshire College will be closing after 56 years and teaching out is deeply personal for me. Hampshire didn’t just educate me, it shaped how I think about risk, creativity and innovation, and gave me the courage to challenge conventional wisdom to forge new solutions. Without my Hampshire education, Stonyfield Organic would never have been created, let alone become the world’s largest organic yogurt brand. In recent years I have joined with many fellow alums to work closely with the college’s board and leadership to help navigate the difficult headwinds challenging relatively young liberal arts colleges like Hampshire. President Chrisler and the board deserve enormous credit for exhausting every available option before arriving at this decision. They led with integrity and transparency when it would have been easier to look away. Like any bold entrepreneurial venture, Hampshire faced significant financing headwinds due to its still relatively young alumni cohort and resultant underdeveloped endowment. Hampshire will live on through the countless innovative business, artistic, and educational enterprises and careers that this wonderful school inspired.”
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