Hampshire Students and Faculty Find New Home at Amherst

After Hampshire College announced its upcoming closure on April 14, Hampshire students, faculty, and staff faced the challenge of transitioning to new campuses mid-semester. 

While transfer application deadlines had already passed when the closure was announced, Amherst College extended its deadline and waived college and midterm reports to assist Hampshire students impacted by the decision. According to a faculty meeting held on May 21, 88 Hampshire students completed their transfer applications. From this pool, 13 enrolled this fall, adding to the highest transfer acceptance rate in Amherst’s history, 2.5 times higher than the regular rate. 

In an interview with The Student, Ana Clara Alves ’29E, an international student from Brazil who transferred from Hampshire, described the process of adjusting to the differences between the two colleges’ grading systems. Unlike Amherst, Hampshire did not require its students to select majors and did not assign grades as a form of evaluation. “I never do [work] thinking about the grade. I’m always thinking about the process. I’m always thinking about what I want to bring to the table,” she said. “I don't know how my studying process will be this time.”

Still, she is optimistic about her upcoming Amherst journey. “My main goals and the hopes are being able to fulfill my academic goals and explore myself creatively and taking advantage of the open curriculum and challeng[ing] myself,” she said.

Amherst also provided financial assistance for transfer Hampshire students, who will spend between three and six semesters at Amherst to complete their degrees. 

“I had a full ride at Hampshire College, and they kept that,” Alves said. “They also gave me [an] access grant for emergency things like winter clothes, so that’s really, really great support.”

Additionally, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst accepted 188 transfer students from Hampshire, while other schools have not disclosed their numbers. 

In addition to assisting students transferring from Hampshire, the college created one-year visiting positions for nine Hampshire faculty across eight departments. Four departments are financing positions using their own budgets, and general funds financed three positions. 

A statement from Hampshire President Jennifer Christler and Hampshire’s Board of Trustees, updated on May 12, highlighted efforts to manage the college’s financial strain, which included efforts to “aggressively” increase enrollment, refinance existing debt, and explore new revenue options through land sales. 

Despite the administration’s efforts, “the [c]ollege no longer has the resources to sustain full operations and meet our regulatory responsibilities.” Christler noted that even a favorable sale of land assets would not meaningfully change its long-term financial trajectory.

According to an article in Athol Daily News, on Aug. 3, Hampshire received a $29.5 million loan from Artocarpus Partners, LLC to keep the school solvent for its summer and fall teach-out. Despite public proposals from three groups for the purchase of the college’s nearly 800 acres of land, the college has made no announcements on the sale. One group, Hampshire Next, also raised $2 million in pledges from 1,400 donors toward its goal of opening an educational village on campus after the closure.

As for the college’s land, the Town of Amherst initiated a study to develop zoning options for future use of the campus’ property. In a July 13 statement, the Town clarified that it “will not be initiating a land purchase, taking, or acquisition.” The Hampshire College Board of Trustees will make all final decisions regarding marketing and sales of the property.