AMHERST — Hampshire College will have more students on campus than it expected when classes open on Sept. 3
After projecting since spring that 600 to 650 students would be on campus this fall — down from nearly 1,200 in January — the college now expects between 700 and 750 students when the academic year begins, according to spokesman John Courtmanche. And at a school that receives close to 90 percent of its revenue from tuition and fees, that’s no small discovery.
“Obviously, our projections were low, and it couldn’t be better news for Hampshire,” Courtmanche said. The new numbers are based on the number of students currently enrolled for courses, Courtmanche said. Those students have until Oct. 1 to drop classes.
Courtmanche acknowledged that the numbers also show that at least 150 students decided to leave Hampshire after the turmoil of this spring, when protests hit campus after the board of trustees voted not to admit a full 2019 first-year class. That decision was made after the administration announced it was seeking a partner institution to deal with Hampshire’s budget woes.
Courtmanche said it’s unclear how many of those students transferred to other schools or dropped out. Students leaving Hampshire aren’t required to tell the college why they’re leaving.
But even given that reality, Courtmanche said the overall enrollment numbers are a positive sign.
“It’s great news for Hampshire, and it shows that our students have faith and they want to return, and they weren’t turned away by the events of the spring,” he said.
As Hampshire looks to recruit a full class to apply for enrollment in 2020, the college has hired a new dean of admissions and financial aid.
Kevin Kelly, who served as director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 2005 to 2015, has taken on the role. In an email to campus on Aug. 8, college President Edward Wingenbach said Kelly has been “rapidly re-establishing and staffing” the admissions office, which together with the advancement office was first hit by layoffs this spring amid the college’s financial crisis.
The news comes ahead of students’ arrival for the start of the academic year. Instead of a traditional opening-day convocation, the school year will begin with a launch event for the work of reinventing the college for the future.
In an email to the campus community, Wingenbach said the Sept. 3 meeting will “officially launch our community work to design the Hampshire student experience of the future.”
“Together we will consider ideas about the future and begin to foster collaborative approaches to prioritizing among them,” Wingenbach wrote. “Our conversations will form the basis for the intensive work that will continue throughout the semester (more details to come!), so I hope everyone will make time to participate.”
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.