I could see how this could appeal to students both interested in UMass and also those who would normally be drawn to Hampshire but may be hesitant to choose them now.
I wonder if they could do something like Salem College in NC has done–still exist as a college but also offer a boarding/day high school. You could market it as offering a dual-enrollment track that allows them to enroll in college classes (and have transfer agreements with Hampshire and other area schools that guarantees specific classes/hours transfer in, etc).
The article says they are recruiting new students, but I wonder at what cost (I can’t open the whole article). As I see things, the school’s financial issues can lead to enrollment moving in the wrong direction. I for one would hesitate to send a child to a college that is in such a precarious financial position. Hopefully Hampshire can survive this.
I imagine you have to find folks that don’t know or think to look but when i saw they missed enrollment by 50% - right there was a death knell. They need a white knight / another school or really rich alumnus.
I believe they have already mined the rich-alum vein pretty heavily. They have tried to keep their current model afloat, and it hasn’t worked. They’re going to need to re-imagine the path forward, or there won’t be one.
Too bad but saw it coming. Can’t imagine many (or any) incoming freshmen will commit to Hampshire with this so sadly it may be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It’s a death spiral for sure. It’s sad, I was hopeful when some alum raised so much money a few years ago, but that well seems to have dried up. And I understand why.