Jul 29, 2019, 1:57 PM
(From Inside Higher Ed) Under pressures of budget stress, leadership transition and demographic shifts, Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, is making major changes to create a sustainable business model. The college chose to enroll just 15 new students for fall 2019 — far fewer than the 300 new students that would normally make up a new class — in order to take time to revamp its program. Incoming president Edward Wingenbach argues Hampshire can leverage its unique history to recover in the coming years, and his plan includes launching a re-imagined curriculum model, driving fundraising and building a new budget.
"Hampshire’s challenge is matching our expenses to the very stable level of student interest and revenue that is available to the college," said Wingenbach. "We have to build a budget based on our realistic expectations for tuition, room and board revenue, and other sources of revenue. And then work backwards from that to prioritize where we can spend our money."
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