Hampshire College announced plans on Tuesday to close after the fall 2026 semester.
The western Massachusetts school opened to students in 1970 and became known for its alternative approach to higher education.
Hampshire’s closure was confirmed in a statement from the state’s Commissioner of Higher Education Noe Ortega.
“The news that Hampshire College will close at the end of this calendar year comes after more than five decades of the College providing students with a unique, interdisciplinary, self-directed liberal arts education that will undoubtedly have a lasting impact,” he wrote. “We recognize how deeply impactful this closure is for the entire Hampshire community, especially for students who must now determine their path forward.”
It’s not clear what the closure will mean for current Hampshire students.
The decision to close follows years of declining enrollment and money struggles. Last month, the college’s accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education, put Hampshire on notice over concerns about the school’s enrollment and finances.
Hampshire has dealt with the threat of closure in the past. In 2019, notable alumni including filmmaker Ken Burns helped spearhead a major fundraising effort meant to keep the college afloat.
Michael Horn, cofounder of the research organization Clayton Christensen Institute, said Hampshire’s closure is a sign of the times. The institute predicts many more colleges will close in the coming years. Horn said the other four colleges in Amherst should have found a way to support or bail out Hampshire.
“I’m surprised that they were not more aggressively looking at merger,” Horn said.
“Demographics are what they are,” he said. “You can’t beat gravity. It is hard as a small college to make it at this moment in particular. While they had a unique value proposition, the market was pretty clearly telling them it was a unique value proposition that was not valued.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
