“Dive Brief: Hampshire College is facing new risks after its accreditor said the college must prove at a June meeting why it should not be put on probation or lose accreditation entirely. The New England Commission of Higher Education issued the “show cause” notice earlier this month over concerns Hampshire isn’t meeting requirements related to institutional resources. It cited Hampshire’s stumbling enrollment, declining unrestricted endowment dollars and trouble refinancing bonds, according to a Tuesday news release. Jose Fuentes, chair of the private Massachusetts college’s board, said in a statement that financial viability is the institution’s top priority. “To that end, we are focused on refinancing the College’s debt, working to continue fundraising efforts, realizing land development, and supporting the work to increase enrollment.” Dive Insight: Hampshire is once again navigating existential risks after averting closure more than five years ago . Without accreditation, higher education institutions can’t participate in federal grant and loan programs — a loss that often spells death for colleges. In the show-cause notice, NECHE pointed to Hampshire’s “inability to refinance its $21 million bond debt” ahead of a September tender date, at which time the college will be on the hook for buying its bonds back. As of last June, the college held $5.1 million in cash. If it can’t refinance its debt, the college could close , according to its latest financial audit. And the college’s last three annual financial statements included “going concern” language, signaling that it might not be able to continue operating beyond a year. Hampshire’s fiscal 2025 audit noted that the college breached the terms on a group of bonds last June. Meanwhile, as Hampshire has run deficits, it has also spent millions of endowment dollars on operations in recent years, decreasing the unrestricted money available for the future. Just between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, unrestricted net assets fell by more than half, to $4.7 million. Moreover, NECHE cited a land deal "falling through " that would have allowed Hampshire to monetize a piece of land through commercial and housing development. A Hampshire spokesperson declined to comment Wednesday but said the college would be sharing updates on enrollment, land development, fundraising and refinancing work as they are available. NECHE also pointed to Hampshire’s recent enrollment woes. Between 2024 and 2025, fall enrollment dropped 11.3% to 747 students, according to NECHE, which said the institution is not “successfully sustaining its enrollment growth momentum.” Not long ago, Hampshire was a higher ed turnaround success story . Facing severe financial distress, Hampshire admitted only a partial incoming class in fall 2019. But a curriculum revamp and fundraising blitz helped bring the college back from the brink of closure. It never fully shrugged off its troubles, however. Hampshire shrank its deficit but hasn’t fully plugged its budget gap. And while enrollment has partially rebounded from perilous lows of a few years ago, it has never returned to pre-2019 levels, when headcounts hovered around 1,200 and above. In 2024, the college cut 9% of its employees after lower-than-expected enrollment and as it continued working toward a balanced budget. “We’re still growing, enrollment is still increasing,” then-President Edward Wingenbach told Higher Ed Dive at the time. “This is really more about ensuring that we can continue to be successful as the parameters of that growth change.” Wingenbach departed last June for another institution. Since then, headcount has fallen. Hampshire President Jennifer Chrisler said in a statement Tuesday, “I look forward to working with NECHE to ensure the success of our sustainability plan and preserve the remarkable experience of our students, a group of iconoclastic, bold, and creative people.”
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