Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Together, the institutions have been known as the Five College Consortium.
The college uses an alternative curriculum, with an emphasis on progressive pedagogy and self-directed academic concentrations, a focus on portfolios rather than distribution requirements, and a reliance on narrative evaluations instead of grades and GPAs.
Hampshire College alumni, faculty, and researchers include a Nobel laureate, 5 MacArthur Fellows, 32 Fulbright scholars, and 7 members of the National Academy of Sciences.
On April 14, 2026, the college's leaders announced that it would close after the fall 2026 semester, citing unresolved financial and accreditation pressures, along with a steep decline in enrollment.
Its campus houses the Yiddish Book Center and Eric Carle Museum and hosts the annual Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics.
History
The idea for Hampshire College originated in 1958 when the presidents of Amherst, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, as well as the University of Massachusetts Amherst, appointed a committee to examine the assumptions and practices of liberal arts education. Their report, "The New College Plan", advocated many of the features that have since been realized in the Hampshire curriculum: inviting students to self-design their program of studies; training students to be able to educate themselves through their lifetimes; emphasis on each student's curiosity and motivation; learning among and across multiple disciplines; and close mentoring relationships with teachers.
In 1965, Amherst College alumnus Harold F. Johnson, inspired by the New College Plan, donated $6 million toward the founding of Hampshire College. With a matching grant from the Ford Foundation, Hampshire's first trustees purchased of orchard and farmland in South Amherst, Massachusetts, and construction began.
One of the most important founding documents of Hampshire College is the book The Making of a College, written by the college's first president, Franklin Patterson, together with Hampshire's later second president, Charles Longsworth.
Hampshire admitted its first students in 1970. For several years immediately after its founding in the early 1970s, the large number of applications for matriculation caused Hampshire College to be among the most selective undergraduate programs in the United States.Making of a College pp. 307–310. Its admissions selectivity declined after that because of declining application popularity. The school's number of applications increased again in the late 1990s, causing increased admissions selectivity.
In the mid-1990s, the college began establishing a "cultural village", making possible the residence of independent non-profit organizations on the campus. The cultural village includes the National Yiddish Book Center, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and the Hitchcock Center for the Environment. On April 5, 2005, the board of trustees named Ralph Hexter, formerly a dean at University of California, Berkeley's College of Letters and Science, as the college's next president. The appointment made Hampshire one of a small number of colleges and universities in the United States with an openly gay president.The exact number was unclear, but there may have been as few as eight openly gay college and university presidents , and at the time Hexter was named president of Hampshire there were fewer still.
The Hampshire College Archives in the Harold F. Johnson Library has extensively documented the college's history between 1965 and 2005, accessible on the college's website.
On August 23, 2012, the school announced the establishment of a scholarship fund dedicated to helping undocumented students get degrees. It would provide more than $25,000 yearly to help an undocumented student pay for the $43,000-plus tuition.
The school has been financially challenged throughout its history, largely because it lacked a founding endowment to rely on for income stability. It has relied substantially on tuition income for operations. As of June 30, 2017, the endowment had risen to $48.5 million.
2019 admissions pause
On January 15, 2019, president Miriam Nelson and the board of trustees announced that the college was planning to seek a strategic partner to ensure long-term sustainability due to financial instability and a small endowment.Merzbach, Scott (January 19, 2019). "Hampshire College seeks partner". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A1, A8. In February, the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hampshire's president discussed a partnership between the two schools.Merzbach, Scott; Christensen, Dusty (February 23, 2019). "Hampshire, UMass talked partnership". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A1, A5.Christensen, Dusty (April 6, 2019). "Meehan opens up about talks with Hampshire". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A5. UMass considered the idea, but only if Hampshire would be closed entirely and there were massive layoffs of its faculty.Christensen, Dusty (August 31, 2019). "UMass set 'draconian' conditions for merger". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A1, A5. Hampshire wanted its name and its "spirit of interdisciplinary and independent studies" to continue, its students to be able to continue their studies at UMass, and that Hampshire's staff and faculty would be considered for positions at UMass. Ultimately, UMass and Hampshire could not agree.
In addition, the college was considering not accepting a new first-year class for fall 2019, due to concerns with compliance and accreditation. On February 1, the board of trustees voted that, for the fall 2019 semester, it would only be admitting about 60 students who had already been offered early admission or who had previously deferred admission until fall 2019.Christensen, Dusty (February 2, 2019). "Trustees nix fall fall 2019 class". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A1, A8. Early admission students were released from their pledge to attend Hampshire College.
Some alumni protested these decisions, as did many students, who organized sit-ins in the Dean of Students office and the Office of the President, demanding more transparency from the administration and board of trustees and for student, staff, and faculty voices to be taken into account in decision-making processes.Krakauer, Jon (January 31, 2019). " "A Small New England College Struggles to Survive." January 31, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019. The occupation in the Dean of Students office ended after a few weeks, and the sit-in in the president's office lasted for 75 days, ending on April 22, 2019.Christensen, Dusty (April 26, 2019). "Hampshire College students end sit-in at president's office". Amherst Bulletin. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
Following an announcement that 30%–50% of the faculty and staff might be laid off, the faculty held a vote of no confidence in the administration.Merzbach, Scott (February 22, 2019). "Faculty eyes vote of no confidence". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A1, A5. Because a binding motion is required to be public for seven days before it is acted on, the February 20 no-confidence vote was not binding. A week later, the majority of the faculty decided not to move forward with a binding vote of no confidence.Christenstsen, Dusty (February 28, 2019). "College faculty table vote of no confidence". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. B1.
In March and April 2019, the chair, vice-chair, and six other members of the board of trustees resigned.Christiensen, Dusty (April 6, 2019). "President Nelson resigns". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A1, A5. Shortly afterward, the board announced a decision to prioritize remaining independent through a capital campaign led by alumnus Ken Burns. Ken Rosenthal was named interim president. The first round of layoffs primarily affected the admissions and fundraising offices, effective April 19, 2019."Hampshire College makes 1st round of layoffs". Associated Press. February 20, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019. Ed Wingenbach became the new president in August,Christensen, Dusty (August 10, 2019). "New leader bringing future into focus". Daily Hampshire Gazette. p. A1, A5. beginning an effort to revise the curriculum to increase interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and access.
In September 2019, the first-year class was 13 students. Total enrollment was around 750 students, substantially fewer students than typical, due to decreased retention rates.Russell, Jim (August 30, 2019). "Hampshire College fall enrollment better than earlier forecast". Masslive. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
Final years A fundraising campaign, "Change in the Making: A Campaign for Hampshire", was launched in late 2019 to raise $60 million in unrestricted operating support by 2024. By March 2023, nearly $40 million had been raised. Documentarian Ken Burns, a Hampshire alumnus, served as co-chair. In November 2020, Hampshire received its largest single donation since its founding, $5 million, by alumnus James S. Crown and his wife, Paula H. Crown. Later that month, alumnus Lucy McFadden contributed $2 million. In January 2022, the college received an anonymous gift of $5 million to fund the Ken Burns Initiative to Transform Higher Education. In January 2023, Stonyfield Yogurt cofounder and Hampshire alumnus Gary Hirshberg invested $1 million in the campaign.
In 2020, Hampshire did away with departmental structures, reorganizing around global challenges like climate change, white supremacy, and life in a post-truth era.
In 2021, the college rebuilt its admissions operations, resulting in a 68 percent increase in enrollment over fall 2020 and a 100 percent increase in first-year enrollments over 2020. In the fall of 2022, Hampshire welcomed its largest entering class since 2018, with 275 new students.
On March 9, 2023, "in response to the continuing attacks on New College of Florida intended to limit intellectual exploration, turn back progress toward inclusion, and curtail open discussion of race, injustice, and histories of oppression," Hampshire College extended an invitation of admission to its students, matching their current cost of tuition.
2026 closure announcement In early 2026, Hampshire College faced renewed financial difficulties after enrollment declined from 842 students in autumn 2024 to 747 in autumn 2025. In March 2026, the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), the college's accreditor, placed the college "on notice" over concerns tied to enrollment shortfalls and financial viability. The college would have needed to make their case to the commission at a June 2026 meeting. As of April 2026, the college voluntarily withdrew its accreditation from NECHE.
On April 14, 2026, the college announced it would wind down operations after the autumn 2026 semester. Contributing factors cited in reporting included the college's inability to refinance approximately $21 million in bond debt due by September 2026, a failed land sale, a declining unrestricted endowment, and an incoming class of 168 first-year students against a goal of 300.
Initially, it was announced that only students intending to graduate in December 2026 would be permitted to return in September to finish their degrees, with the school having planned to keep on a significantly smaller staff to serve them. However, NECHE later clarified that all Hampshire students will be allowed to return for the final semester, during which the school will remain accredited until its closure. All students still have the option to transfer during the spring semester.