LUCAS WILLARD: The "Five Colleges" of western Massachusetts will soon be down to four.
Hampshire College, an institution devoted to experimenting and testing the limits of higher education, says it will permanently close after its fall 2026 semester.
The news is sending shock waves through the campus community and the greater Pioneer Valley. Joining us now is WAMC's James Paleologopoulos with more details. James, hi, how are you?
JAMES PALEOLOGOPOULOS: Lucas, I’m alright.
WILLARD: So, what can you tell me about this announcement from Hampshire College today?
PALEOLOGOPOULOS: Lucas, I can tell you Tuesday’s announcement caught a number of students, prospective students and alumni off-guard. For the better part of a decade now, the small liberal arts college has been trying to turn things around amid financial and student enrollment issues.
Some of these issues go back to at least 2019, [well-]before the pandemic. That year, there was talk of the college pursuing some kind of long-term partnership or possible merger with another university.
The nearby University of Massachusetts Amherst came up, but, following responses from the campus community, the college took a different tack.
Then came the pandemic – enrollment nosedived from around 1,400 students in 2015 to around 470 in 2021, according to some estimates.
A turnaround plan brought some optimism and a growing student population, but ultimately, the Board of Trustees voted to call fall 2026 the school’s last semester.
WILLARD: All of this, weeks after reports that Hampshire would have to “show cause” to higher education accreditors.
PALEOLOGOPOULOS: That’s right. In March, the New England Commission of Higher Education noted Hampshire was not able to get its enrollment numbers where it needed to be. There was also an apparent “inability to refinance" $21 million in bond debt ahead of an upcoming deadline.
Also, big plans to sell a swathe of college-owned land fell through. WAMC previously reported on plans for a developer to turn part of Atkins Corner into housing suitable for as many as 260 tenants. The Daily Hampshire Gazette [reported] those plans were withdrawn late last year, after wetland regulations appeared to create a setback.
WILLARD: And James, I just want folks to know: Hampshire College is not what you would call your average higher ed institution. There are not conventional majors or curriculum that might be familiar with in higher ed.
What can you tell me about the school and how it operates: it’s a little bit different?
PALEOLOGOPOULOS: Absolutely. At Hampshire, you’re [not a freshman or senior, you’re] Division I, then Div. II then Div. III as your time on campus goes on.
Approaches like these go all the way back to the school’s inception. It was the late-1950s when leadership at UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Smith College and Mount Holyoke College came together, keen on finding find ways to innovate or improve higher learning.
They would form a special committee devoted to innovating and examining what higher education can be – that was [partly] outlined in the committee’s pivotal “New College Plan.” Much of that would be put into practice by 1970, when Hampshire College held its first classes.
Speaking with WAMC late last year, President Jennifer Chrisler says that innovator role was still very much something she and administrators were keeping after.
“That’s the thing that we have the opportunity so uniquely, we can be the skunk works for higher education,” she said, speaking with WAMC soon after her full-appointment as president. “We can be the place that pioneers new ideas and tries new approaches and thinks about how to deliver the liberal arts differently. If you look at the sort of ten most-noted practices in higher education as outlined by professional organizations that care about the teaching and learning that happens on our college campuses, the vast majority of them were either created at Hampshire or were initially delivered at Hampshire and have become sort of standard, accepted practice at other places.”
PALEOLOGOPOULOS: As alumni have been telling me, project-based learning and curriculums, student-designed academic programs in place of your usual majors and a heavy emphasis on faculty-mentorship are all hallmarks of Hampshire College.
Also an alumnus: Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman, who says Hampshire’s impact has been felt far and wide, not just because of its graduates, but its impact on higher ed as well, as well as the very town it’s based in.
“From the community's point of view, it has had a big impact in the sense that it’s owned 600 acres in Amherst, 200 acres in Hadley - it's one of our largest employers. It has an oversized-impact in many ways, because the people who have come from Hampshire have stayed and started local businesses like Amherst Books and Iron Horse and Black Sheep cafe and Provisions - many community resources have benefited from Hampshire's presence here.”
WILLARD: And James, what has the reaction from alumni been like today?
PALEOLOGOPOULOS: Like I said: there’s been a fair bit of shock. Judy Herrell of local ice creamery, Herrell’s Ice Cream, says she and others who studied at Hampshire thought the school’s restructuring a few years ago was a success, albeit painful: [at least] 9 percent of its workforce was laid off in 2024 - about 29 positions were eliminated, while others saw pay cuts.
But, as the college indicated in its announcement, even more cuts would be needed to stay afloat if the college were to keep going. Last month’s [NECHE] announcement over Hampshire’s accreditation also mentioned the college’s “declining unrestricted endowment that has been used to support operations” was a concern.
WILLARD: And James, last question: any word on what’s next for students still enrolled at Hampshire?
PALEOLOGOPOULOS: So the college has been offering many details to its students, per its Tuesday announcement. For context, as of fall 2025, about 750 students were said to be enrolled at Hampshire.
The school’s currently working with the state’s Department of Higher Education and New England Commission of Higher Education on ways to allow for “Division III completion” or ways to transfer.
If approved, the former would allow students near the end of their time at Hampshire College to complete their degrees with the school.
For the transfer pathway: the college reportedly has agreements in place with Amherst College, Bennington College, Mount Holyoke, Smith College and UMass Amherst, in addition to several other institutions.
WILLARD: And that’s WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos. James, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.
PALEOLOGOPOULOS: Thank you!
