What is Hampshire?

WHAT IS HAMPSHIRE?

Hampshire College was founded in 1965 to radically reimagine liberal arts education. Today, we’re more unconventional than ever, and we’re organized in a way that’s different from any other college in the world. Instead of majors, schools, or departments, our academics are structured within interdisplinary groups, and students design their own curriculums.

At Hampshire, you’ll learn ways to identify challenges, ask the right questions, mobilize resources, and incorporate diverse points of view as you creatively propose solutions. That’s how problems get solved in the real world.

We offer an education that reflects life around us — ever-changing, responsive, and aware of the urgent issues facing humanity.

Take your passion projects beyond the conceptual, make vital connections, and enact positive change.

What were you made for?

A college experience unlike anywhere else — and unlike anyone else’s.

Student-Designed Curriculum

Faculty advisors will help you create a customized course of study to address the big questions, challenges, or issues you’re most interested in.

No Majors or Departments

You’ll work across, between, and without disciplines — and you’ll combine fields to address pressing problems as critical issues shift.

> Our Semester Unbound is a single immersive class that takes the time, energy, and commitment of four regular classes, and brings together an array of perspectives, resources, and skill sets to pursue a 21st-century concern without limits.

> Learning Collaboratives bring together faculty and students from different disciplines to grapple with today’s urgent questions, including social justice and climate justice issues.

> Study abroad opportunities , like the rest of our open curriculum, are customizable, and many have no prerequisites. Students can choose from short summer programs and semester- or year-long options.

> Internships , research assistantships, independent studies. and field studies can all be part of your academic journey at Hampshire.

No Grades

Your performance will be assessed with constructive, written feedback on your projects and engagement in classes and community.

No Freshmen or Seniors

You’ll advance through three Divisions comprised of classes, papers, and independent work, capped off by a yearlong project of your own design.

FIVE COLLEGE CONSORTIUM

Hampshire’s founders were Amherst, Smith, and Mount Holyoke Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

They set out to create a lab of an undergraduate institution, experimenting with how a college could be a more effective intellectual and moral force in the world. Part of the plan: share the resources of all five schools.

One of the country’s most exciting and active educational collaborations.

Students at each campus can cross register for classes, join clubs, try out for club sports and performing arts groups, borrow books, attend events, and dine at the other four schools.

That’s more than 7,000 classes a year, NINE MILLION volumes among the libraries, HUNDREDS of clubs, and about 30,000 potential new friends to make.

A free bus system connects the Five Colleges and three towns, day and night.

No SATs. No application fee. Great financial aid.

Hampshire was among the first schools to be test optional, and since 2014, we’ve been test free. Standardized tests don’t measure a student’s ability to succeed in college and can pose racial, class, gender, and cultural barriers to equal educational opportunity.

Many colleges base financial aid awards largely or partly on test scores, and we believe aid should be used to support students who most need assistance, not just good test takers. We accept the brightest, most creative, and passionate students, regardless of their ability to pay.

We are committed to making Hampshire affordable for you and your family. Students seeking financial aid should complete a free FAFSA form. All students are considered for substantial merit aid, renewable each year after maintaining satisfactory academic progress.

What were you made for? HAMPSHIRE.EDU