Hampshire College Might Close Early

When Hampshire College announced its closure in April, officials said that it would shut down at the end of the fall 2026 semester. But financial challenges could accelerate that plan.

Hampshire president Jennifer Chrisler wrote to the campus community over the weekend to warn them that the college might not have the funds to make it through the fall semester, according to a copy of the letter obtained by WCVB 5, a local news station. She noted that the “planned teach-out is contingent on the College obtaining sufficient financial resources.”

Chrisler stated that Hampshire is trying to determine what assets it may have to fund operations in its last few months, pay necessary vendors for their services and cover teach-out expenses.

While Chrisler indicated that senior officials and the board “remain focused on moving forward planning for the teach-out,” Hampshire’s “financial modeling shows that presently the college does not have enough available funds to cover the expected expenses for the teach-out.”

Chrisler added that while the college will have additional updates for students in the near future, she wrote that it was important for students to weigh transfer options ahead of common June 1 deadlines.

The small, private, experimental college in Massachusetts struggled to stay afloat for years before succumbing to financial pressures, driven by what officials cast as a mix of declining enrollment, rising operational costs and difficult financial headwinds for liberal arts colleges. Hampshire’s inability to pay outstanding debt also contributed to its closure.