Hampshire College

Quick Stats

893 West Street
Amherst, MA 01002: [map]

Phone: (413) 549-4600

2011-2012 Tuition

$42,900: tuition and fees

Students

1,529: enrolled

40%: male /

60%: female

Admissions

Jan. 1: application deadline

70.5%: accepted

More Information

_

U.S. News Rankings

Ranking score and category

U.S. News rank	Category Name
#110	National Liberal Arts Colleges

More About U.S. News Rankings

Summary

Hampshire College is a private institution that was founded in 1965. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,529, its setting is rural, and the campus size is 800 acres. It utilizes a 4-1-4-based academic calendar. Hampshire College's ranking in the 2012 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 110. Its tuition and fees are $42,900 (2011-12).

School mission (as provided by the school):

Hampshire College prepares students to understand and to participate responsibly in a complex world. Hampshire is an innovative liberal arts college with a multidisciplinary approach that develops well-educated lifelong learners with the capacity to go beyond received knowledge and conventional beliefs. As students pursue self-initiated, individual programs of study negotiated with faculty mentors, they develop confidence in their intellect and creativity. Active participation in original research and detailed narrative evaluations from their professors help students build successively more sophisticated critical abilities and skills. The college's multicultural curriculum and commitment to civic and social engagement for all members of the community develop an understanding of the diverse nature of our world and the necessity for responsible leadership. Within the college's residential community students encounter and learn to respect differences and appreciate diversity, enhancing their capacity to live together well. Hampshire is located in the rich educational environment of the Five College consortium (Hampshire, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst), which provides students the opportunity to engage in the extraordinary academic and social offerings of all five campuses.

General Information

School type	private, coed college
Year founded	1965
Religious affiliation	N/A
Academic calendar	4-1-4
Setting	rural
2010 Endowment	$32,720,678

Applying

When applying to Hampshire College, it's important to note the application deadline is January 1, and the early action deadline and the early decision deadline are December 1 and November 15, respectively. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due February 1. The application fee at Hampshire College is $60. It is more selective, with an acceptance rate of 70.5 percent and an early acceptance rate of 82.3 percent.

For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.

Selectivity	more selective
Fall 2010 acceptance rate	71%
Application deadline	January 1
SAT/ACT scores must be received by	February 1

More About Applying

Academic Life

The student-faculty ratio at Hampshire College is 13:1, and the school has 62.7 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Hampshire College include: Creative Writing; Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Other; Cultural Studies/Critical Theory and Analysis; Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other; and Public Health, Other. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 81.8 percent.

Class sizes

Student-faculty ratio

13:1

4-year graduation rate

55% - High

Five most popular majors for 2010 graduates

Creative Writing	10%
Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Other	10%
Cultural Studies/Critical Theory and Analysis	7%
Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other	7%
Public Health, Other	6%

More About Academic Life

Student Life

Hampshire College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 1,529, with a gender distribution of 40.0 percent male students and 60.0 percent female students. 77.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 23.0 percent of students live off campus.

See what students are saying about life at Hampshire College.

Total enrollment	1,529
Student gender distribution

Undergraduate men who are members of a fraternity

Undergraduate women who are members of a sorority

Collegiate athletic association	N/A

More About Student Life

Campus Info & Services

Hampshire College offers a number of student services including women's center, day care, health service, and health insurance. Hampshire College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, student patrols, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Hampshire College, 40 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Hampshire College.

Students who have cars on campus	40% - Low
Health insurance offered	Yes
Students required to own/lease a computer	No

More About Campus Info & Services

Paying for School

At Hampshire College, 60.8 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $29,940.

Paying for college doesn't have to be difficult or devastating. Go to the Paying for College knowledge center to get advice on raising cash and reducing costs.

Tuition and fees	$42,900 (2011-12)
Room and board	$11,180 (2011-12) - High
Financial aid statistics

More About Paying for School

Student Reviews Ratings data provided by Unigo

Rachel Senior

Hampshire College is an "alternative" school. Unfortunately, most of the student body seems to think that this means the Hampshire College is politically or socially "alternative." With that said, the school is often the home of loud political/social "protests" (which are rarely well thought out, almost always rash and reactionary and often leave as soon as they come). Hampshire College was designed to be a school where things were taught differently. It has become a place where different things are taught. These "different subjects" occasionally turn out to be taught and executed exceptionally well. Often, though, they are unbacked, subjective nonsense that students take to be 100% true. Some basics: Hampshire College exists on a good amount of land, most of which is undeveloped. There are two dormitories, Dakin and Merrill, which houses most of the first years and a sizable number of the second years (although with a little luck, a second year can move up to the mods). These mods are on-campus apartments and are named Prescott, Enfield and Greenwich. The former of the three is often thought to be the place to go for parties, and while this was true at the beginning of the semester, it became less so as the year moved on. Enfield is generally more suburban-looking, with buildings designed to form very open communal areas. The social life of Enfield takes advantage of these areas, and is often the home to more environmentally-conscious and socially-active folk. There's even a Greenhouse mod. Greenwich, originally designed to be temporary housing, is made of relatively isolated "pods," and is the physical counterthesis to Enfield. The people in Greenwich are, from what I've experienced, less loud than the other two communities, both physically and figuratively. Currently, renovations are taking place for Greenwich. The architecture of Hampshire College is in the late '60s Brutalist style, which some view as prison-like, but I found to be rather nice. Not all of the buildings are well-designed, none are very inviting to students (classrooms are hard to find sometimes), but you live with what you can. The student body of Hampshire College is medium size, about 1400 kids. There is considerable separation, not by grade but by living area. People in the dorms tend to hang out exclusively with others in the dorms, and the same goes for the mods. Nonetheless, it is easy to have everyone caught up in everyone else's business. Hampshire is definitely more difficult to handle for those with a misanthropic or introverted bend. With that said, most people spend their time anywhere where other (preferably intoxicated) people are. And those locations are easy to trace.

Colin Sophomore

To quote Ricky Bobby, if you ain't first, you're last. Hampshire is a binary place - either you're one of the motivated, passionate autodidacts who came here seeking a new world free from the persecution of a core curriculum...or you're here for an easy ride, and the chance to get a degree for sitting in your incense-laden dorm and smoking ganja. Hampshire's biggest weakness is our consummate lack of school spirit. Little to no investment in the school is manifest by the students, and many community institutions are brittle or simply non-existant. We have a fragile student government, no year book and only one athletic team to speak of (Red Scare, our Ultimate Frisbee team) although we actually have other athletic teams, and could easily form more. The trouble lies in the students, many of whom preach "community involvement" by touting hurricane relief programs or attempting to support local farming efforts, but won't do more than charge a Hampshire College Hoodie at the store to rep their own college. We have a ton of beurocratic red tape, but at times that can be a boon - if you can get your stuff together, and are relatively persistant, you can get what you want from the school, putting your 40,000 dollar education back in your hands. The little blurb at the top here says I should comment on the college town: Amherst rocks. It totally pwns. The food is awesome (Fresh Side, what!) and the town itself is cute. It's a fantastic nexus for the five colleges, and there's a comic book store. The only drawback is that everything closes pretty early - you're hard pressed to find anything open after ten - but I'm told this is somewhat typical of rural life.

Andrew Junior

More student reviews

* Overview details based on 2010 data

_

Summary

General Information

What will be your primary resource to help pay for college?