After years of challenges associated with rapidly declining funding, Hampshire College is to close.
A private college in Massachusetts was slated to close several years ago, but it will finally close at the end of the fall semester of 2026 due to what officials described as the combined effects of declining enrollment, rising costs, financial instability and financial conditions affecting many liberal arts colleges.
Founded in 1965 and known for its progressive values and student-driven curriculum, Hampshire is the latest in a string of junior colleges to announce closures this year, including Laboré College of Healthcare (also in Massachusetts) and Lourdes University. According to new information from Huron Consulting, nearly a quarter of the nation’s 1,700 private, not-for-profit four-year institutions could be forced to close or merge within the next decade.
Hampshire also faced scrutiny from its receiver, the New England Commission of Higher Education, which placed the college on probation last month because of concerns about its financial resources, particularly a $21 million bond that officials could not finance. A recent audit by Hampshire shows that the college has not met debt covenants on certain bonds, which could result in immediate demand for default payments. That study, dated November 2025, indicated that the college’s ability to continue operating “depended on the financing of these bonds.”
But as time went on, the college couldn’t pay its bonds.
Although college officials had taken some steps to stave off the closure — including laying off staff and trying, unsuccessfully, to sell the land — those efforts weren’t enough to keep the doors open at Hampshire. Officials noted in a closing statement that they are exploring all possible avenues. In the end, they concluded that it was better to devote their limited resources to an orderly closure.
“The financial circumstances we are facing: declining enrollment, long-term debt burden, and stagnant progress in land development left us with no other responsible option. Our commitment now is to ensure that every student, employee, and member of this community is treated with the care and respect they deserve,” Hampshire board chairman Jose Fuentes said in a statement.
The closure comes less than a year after Hampshire missed its enrollment target by almost half.
Officials told local media in January that Hampshire enrolled 168 new students in the fall, well short of its goal of 300. Officials put enrollment at about 750 full-time students at the beginning of this year, down about 100 from the fall of 2024, when the head count stood at 844 students—the most recent high. While Hampshire used to enroll 1,200 students or more in the 2010s, the college has never approached that number since it closed in 2019. Federal data shows that enrollment in Hampshire has dropped by nearly half since the fall of 2015.
In 2023, when Florida governor Ron DeSantis moved to transform the New College of Florida from a quaint liberal arts college into a life preserver, Hampshire offered a haven for students who wanted to continue their liberal arts education. About a dozen NCF students made the transfer, increasing enrollment, albeit temporarily.
With enrollment dwindling, Hampshire had few financial resources to fall back on. Its latest audit shows a cash strength of approximately $26.5 million, with $23.5 million in restricted funds.
Test Inheritance
Laura De Veau, a visiting professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and the Department of Higher Education at Boston College (and dean at Mount Ida College when it closed in 2018), said Hampshire officials appear busy but faced circumstances beyond their control. One such example is when plans to sell about eight acres fell through late last year after a developer abandoned the project amid permitting and environmental concerns.
“You can’t just replace a large land sale with another form of financing,” he said Within Higher Ed. “I wouldn’t say that was a nail, but it’s true that when something like that doesn’t work out, you paint yourself into a corner by choice.”
Fluctuating enrollment has also created budget challenges.
“I have lived in a room where we lacked 10 students [of the enrollment target]and we say, ‘Okay, how are we going to handle this?’ But 100 students is short, that’s a different discussion. “According to the public record, I can see that this place is drawing a lot of the metal that they needed, but the clock ran out,” said De Veau.
Ken Rosenthal, whose connection with Hampshire dates back to 1966, even before the college opened in 1970, believes leaders are exploring all avenues to keep the doors open. Said the former chief financial officer, trustee and interim president Within Higher Ed that although he was saddened by the news, he believed that an orderly closure was the best option.
“I had high hopes a few months ago, but looking at it today, I think Hampshire took the only one, and I’m glad they took it now and didn’t wait until it had to be closed completely next fall,” Rosenthal said.
He added that he hopes Hampshire “will be remembered as a place that tried to make a difference in higher education by embracing new ideas and accepting students who have a greater say in the development of their education than other colleges.”
William “Wolfie” Krebs, a Hampshire student who will graduate in May, said he was in a state of disbelief at the news. Krebs arrived on campus in 2022 not sure he wanted to go to college; now, after four years at Hampshire, he is heading for a Ph.D. Math program this fall.
While at Hampshire, he competed on the track team, embraced the college’s self-directed curriculum and said he “loved math in a very different way.”
Now he hopes others remember the college for its legacy of exploration.
“I hope it’s not seen as a failure, because it wasn’t. It brought a huge impact on the world and the community, in the immediate area,” said Krebs. Within Higher Ed. “I think it’s going to be a great memory for a lot of people, and I’m excited to see what nostalgia looks like in the future.”
