Overview
- Hampshire said it will skip a fall intake, refund admitted students, hold one last commencement at year’s end, and set transfer paths for those still finishing degrees.
- Trustees said they reached the decision only after testing every other option and described shared heartbreak across the board.
- The 2019 five-year plan fell short, raising $55 million toward a $60 million goal and failing to turn campus land into needed cash.
- The accreditor NECHE called a June show-cause review over resources, citing an enrollment drop to 747, a fall class of 168 against a 300 goal, a failed land sale, an unrefinanced $21 million bond, and a thinning unrestricted endowment.
- Reporters frame the shutdown as part of a broader squeeze on small private colleges, with one estimate saying more than a quarter could close or merge over the next decade.