Alternative Colleges, and Their ‘Radical, Communal Ideas,’ Fight for a Future

The question "How do you prepare students for the world?" is a good one. Hampshire does it by requiring that students develop the self-discipline to guide themselves, albeit with assistance from faculty. Other schools think the right approach is to tell students what to do and have them live or die by letter grades. I don't know about the rest of you, but since I left college I haven't been given any grades. As a graduate of Hampshire, I found that the sort of program offered at this so-called hippie school turned out to be good prep for the real world. Self-discipline is required in this American capitalist economy. Maybe if more students could be challenged by a Hampshire education we'd all be better off.

A number of observations about Green Mountain, Hampshire College, and other progressive institutions identify those schools, and others, as being tied to or reflective of the 1960s. The roots, however, go back much further and can be traced, as Gerald Grant and David Riesman have done in The Perpetual Dream (1978) to the progressive movement that emerged in the early decades of the 20th century. This movement, in response to shifts as higher education moved to meet the needs of an industrial society, took two forms: a focus on the great books (University of Chicago, and St. John's as two notable examples) and education to address societal needs and challenges (one early example of this was the Experimental College that Alexander Meiklejohn established at UW Madison in the 1920s). My hope is that as institutions come and go, we find ways to ensure that higher education can still provide opportunities for students to learn how to solve problems, and meet the needs our society in addition to ensuring that they get good jobs and have productive careers. Learning about the history of movements in higher education in the US might be one way of helping us do that.

The article makes clear the tuition problem - it has increased at 3X the rate of inflation. Comments note that is primarily due to an explosion of administrators and their staff! So why not lay off those unneeded personal who are not involved in actual teaching and lower the tuition by the corresponding amount?

This is an unfortunate example of inaccurate and harmful journalism. In the interest of writing a large-themed story about anachronistic hippy colleges, pushed aside by modernity--you fail to discuss the existing situation at Hampshire. People's loyalty to that institution reflect the high quality education that many receive and to which the faculty is dedicated. While financial difficulties are partly responsible for the present crisis on the campus, the reason for protest is a generalized sense that an incompetent administration has needessly undermined the viability of the institution. Your article doesn't really convey that --or the absurdity of firing admissions personnel and staff from the development office. There appears to be a serious effort to preserve Hampshire, which your article fails to make clear.

Whether people like it or not, the overwhelming majority of jobs in this country are provided by business enterprises.( conversely, if those business enterprises didn’t exist, those jobs would not exist.) Therefor, in order to live in the world as it actually exists- not as it should exist-people who want those jobs must acquire the skills that their prospective emloyers want. Unless and until we reach a point where paid employment is neither desirable nor needed, we all have to work for a living. Progressive schools like Hampshire college have a place in our broad society, but their place is not to prepare students for emloyment in all but perhaps very idealized or specialized fields. That, for better or worse, is the reality. If alternative colleges can survive in such a situation, great, but if they can’t then their time has come and gone.

I'm a Hampshire graduate and I have a few thoughts. The cost for higher ed in general is out of control as evidenced by the outstanding student debt too many young people carry. Hampshire made a concerted effort to offer aid to as many students as possible. As an idealistic institution, it's easy to characterize the school as doing a poor job of preparing young people for the job market. I'd argue the opposite. By the time you've finished designing and passing the exams in your field of study, you know how to problem solve! I can't think of a better education for the gig economy. Further, 89% of Hampshire alumni report receiving a job offer within one year of graduation. 65% earn an advanced degree. And Hampshire is actually well supported by it's alumni - according to 2016 donorCentrics annual report on Higher Education Alumni Giving - median participation in 2016 for private colleges was 20% in 2014, then 18% in 2016 - we're at 22%, pretty good for a young institution. Like others, Hampshire will have to get more revenue - how that happens is something our shared governance is trying to figure out.

In my years in the wonderful Five College system, the bus would stop at Hampshire but I never got off. I took classes at 3 of the 5 colleges, but never UMass nor Hampshire. The one friend I knew who attended Hampshire died of a heroin overdose in her 3rd year, and that is in no way to blame the school; she pushed limits her entire life. But it all makes me wonder if this college, born in the 60's, is an artifact of the 60's. As economic pressures mount parents want to make sure their child is poised for success. When I was a student I majored in English and Anthropology and I loved every second. Those majors would be considered unwise today for someone business school bound. In that light, Hampshire's self-constructed majors take a lot of faith, perhaps more than grad schools and employers are willing to give. The campus is conveniently located between Amherst and Mount Holyoke colleges. I think a joint purchase would give both colleges room to grow and, in the case of MHC, a more urban foothold.

As many of the comments here make clear, the attacks on "alternative colleges"--really, all of higher ed--are driven by a loyalty to fear and capitalism and an inability to understand the relationship between the two and the (non) necessity of it, and the language used to express them gives away a strange resentment. There has always been moralism among those who hate the freedoms "alternative colleges" represent, as if toiling for wages represented the highest possible human achievement. I mourn for the young people of today, who increasingly have no options but to succumb to the bullying of corporate enslavement. I would've rather starved to death than be shoehorned into a "business major." Now I'm just glad I'm old, because I have loved academia all my life and much of it is becoming a sad ghost rattling the chains secured around it by the GOP.

Goddard College Corp. in rural Vermont has a lot more problems than “financial responsibility.” I sued Goddard in 2014 as a former faculty member in its M.F.A. Interdisciplinary Arts Program. Rather than a search for the truth, my attorney and Goddard’s attorneys colluded to commit a fraud-on-the-court in which they withheld material documents, mischaracterized my testimony, and succeeded in getting my case dismissed. "Goddard College has historically attracted students who “can’t stomach the grind of prescribed courses, a syllabus, textbooks,” Professor Swidler said. The founder of the M.F.A.-I.A. program wrote that its students were all frauds and fakes. Goddard dismissed me and characterized me as a threatening minority when three white woman students complained after I gave them suggestions to improve their poorly written papers. Before Goddard College alums from the ‘70’s and 80’s part with their money to bail out this college, they might want to consider how Goddard’s personnel decisions after 2002 were shaped by grudges, grievances, racism, fraud, and identity politics long before these aspects became part of the national miasma. A “progressive” college indeed. As an alum of Antioch College, I would have been happier to die as an artist rather than get involved in a lawsuit in which no one in Vermont did a stitch of fact-finding.

Story could be better written. Tell us more about how much students actually pay-- I understand some get aid-- but do some leave with debt or is it debt-free loans? What about the idea people have floated of a nearby college (like UMass) merging/taking over the college and land and making it an outpost of theirs (with a mission that could reflect theirs still)....

Hampshire’s methodology is what the rest of education is trying to catch up to! As an educator, and Hampshire grad I have been bribing these ‘radical’ ideas to classrooms for over twenty five years - student empowerment, curiosity, and personalized education - radical? Just a drift away from the outmoded factory model of churning out clones for companies to devour their souls!

Who sees years of growth and assumes the future will hold only growth? Why do industries do this? Those big new dorm buildings, lazy rivers, and $1M administrator salaries look pretty embarrassing juxtaposed with the MUCH smaller demographic of prospective college students in the U.S., and the declining birth rate. Milliennials' generation is one of the largest demographics in U.S. history; to base economic outlook on that population was a foolish misstep for higher ed professionals across the country.

The push toward naked utilitarianism in higher education appears at odds with the basic -- laudable -- goal of cultivating creative thinkers who can advance human culture, and not just make more widgets. Single-purpose education is necessarily limited and fails to provide students with enough depth and scope to take the kind of broad view that connects the subtler interdependencies. I do not look forward to the eventual outcomes of our long march toward shortsighted, simplistic functionalism.

If many students receive significant financial aid, yet only 22% of alumni donate to the school, that's a death knoll. Where is a concerned alumnus who can donate 8 or 9 figures? A brief google search turned up many successful alumni whose names would be familiar to many NYT readers. If the alumni aren't appreciative enough to open up their wallets, no use crying over spilt milk for the rest of us.

I'm sorry, but this demand by 'kids' that think they are adults is not reminiscent of the 60s. They are immature idiots that somehow think they own decision making and can say it doesn't matter that the college has no money. "Stay open and do it our way." Guess they were told they are in charge and life is to be fair and everyone is the boss. That's the state of our K-12 'education system.'

If you want to know something about Hampshire College (with which I've never been officially connected), you couldn't do better than go on line to a world authority on the behavior of dogs, "Ray Coppinger," a biology professor at Hampshire from its beginning. I knew Ray for only two weeks, when we served on a team to evaluate another liberal arts college in 1975. Ray, who died in 2017, was beloved by his students, colleagues, and other friends. He was an exemplary human being, scientist, and side-splitting anecdotalist. A consummate professional, but did I mention his undergraduate major was in literature? If Ray stands for Hampshire, Hampshire deserves to remain standing.

I graduated from Hampshire more than four decades ago, but the lessons learned and the friendships made there are more valuable to me than ever. As an incoming student from a traditional high school, the prospect of no grades, coed dorms and a self determined course of study were tantalizing but, in practice, the social and educational life at Hampshire felt logical and comfortable from the beginning. We frequently heard Hampshire referred to as an experimental college, but it never felt like an experiment to me because the approach just seemed to make so much sense. I was grateful for the opportunity to take courses at the other colleges in the area, I was grateful to search out and find supportive but challenging faculty advisors at Hampshire, deeply grateful for the emphasis on open mindedness coupled with critical thinking. And the people - I treasure the talented, compassionate and adventurous people I met there. It is deeply troubling that the costs for undergraduate education have become so prohibitive in general, and that today Hampshire finds itself in a financial quagmire. Every Hampshire alum I know fervently hopes that the school can survive and adapt. There is no question in my mind that Hampshire, more than ever, has much to offer.

As an alumnus, I am curious why I am learning about Hampshire's dire position via the NYT? Hampshire has never had much of an endowment, having opened only in 1970, which has always been one of its problems. Another problem? A history or poor leadership and failing to keep the college competitive. Appealing only to a smaller and smaller subset of applicant was not a good strategy. The school has many positive attributes and its core principles are still pertinent. I hope it is able to reinvent itself, but should it be unable to do so, RIP.

My question is why the administrators of these vulnerable colleges did not look at demographic trends and plan accordingly. I live in Vermont where one college is going out of business and several others are vulnerable to closure. My fear is that the demise of these colleges will intensify income inequality and diminish alternatives to lifestyle and economic choices. We need responsible administrators/educators who know how to navigate the economic headwinds of this time - we need pragmatists who have a vision for the future and we need fewer whiners/complainers.

I spent three years at Hampshire from 88-91 and then transferred elsewhere (to San Jose State. which I could pay for myself). I gained so much while I was there, though, that makes me a better public high school teacher today: 1. My professors Charlene D'Avanzo and John Reid taught me how to do field work in biology and geology, how to see patterns in nature, and how to tell the story of a landscape. 2. I was introduced for the first time to the primary literature in science, and taught how to read it. 3. My professors forced me to come out of a very quiet shell and actively participate in class, by demanding that I ask questions or make critical comments on class content. 4. I learned how to write, from synthesizing diverse research sources and finding the connections among them. 5. Every paper I wrote (outside of science) had to account for race, gender and socioeconomic class, from a historical and cross-cultural perspective. 6. Classes were interdisciplinary and so I learned to see broad frameworks and the connections between diverse disciplines. Hampshire's motto is "Non satis scire" - "It's not enough just to know" - you had to question what you knew. I really wouldn't be the person I am today in terms of learning and scholarship without having gone there. I was angry about my lack of progress for years - the curriculum is SO open-ended and self-defined that I floundered around a lot. But I would be a different person today if I had only gone to SJSU.

As a graduate of Hampshire, someone who is married to a graduate of Hampshire, and the parent of a student who currently attends Hampshire I would point out that Hampshire is not and has never been radical or communal by definition but forward thinking. The core pedagogy of Hampshire is based in experiential learning that is project oriented. Hence Hampshire's ability to better prepare students to enter a fast changing global landscape of commerce and ideas. Hampshire has produced University Professors and Social Workers like myself and my husband, as well as the highest number of Fullbright Scholars in the country. Hampshire continues to innovate and therefor demonstrate its viability and necessity for the future of higher education in this country and the world. My son is being prepared for a profession that did not exist when I went to college 30 years ago, by someone who has defined that profession and continues to innovate in the field. I would hope that anyone interested in preparing the next generation of college graduates would be as deeply committed to supporting Hampshire College, and other colleges like it, as I am. It's neither radical or communal but common sense, to prepare graduates not simply to fit into the world they enter but have the knowledge, skills and strength to define it.

The cost of attending college has put it out of reach for an ever-increasing percentage of high school seniors and their families. When my children were looking at colleges in the first decade of this century, admissions reps extolled facilities and programs that were geared to catch the eye of an 18 year old. It was up to my husband and me to pull the conversation to cost. The colleges ignored the issue entirely or made blithe generalizations about loans and grants, never suggesting that their own spending needed to be curtailed or the immediate pay back of their degrees enhanced. For those students who pursue the 'alternative' academic path or who choose non-marketable majors, their student debt is compounded by lower job prospects. High school seniors are beginning to understand that reality before they sign enrollment papers. Lower cost alternatives like community colleges are seeing growing enrollments in part to avoid two years of Hampshire-level tuition for the basic courses they'd have to take there. Professional 'boot camps' and technical schools teach employable skills with clear ROIs which are more suited to today's gig economy. There is an ongoing contraction in higher education which is a direct result of far too much spending in non-classroom areas, a blithe disregard for their graduates' market value and an assumption that loan repayment is not something they need to be concerned about. It's time for reality on college campuses.

A bad idea that deserves to die.

Over thinking of simple economics. A degree from one of these "universities" does not translate into job skills and interpersonal conformity required by the business world.

"Goddard College has historically attracted students who “can’t stomach the grind of prescribed courses, a syllabus, textbooks,” Professor Swidler said" Lol. Yes, definitely unconventional students. I know I love to hire people that don't like any sort of guidance, structure, or work.

Student success at Hampshire involves self directed inquiry. A critically important skill. For a self directed learner, I wonder if internet enabled access to information and networks offer an alternative to a campus learning environment at a much lower cost. I also wonder if the over parented and over scheduled upbringing of many student candidates makes the white space of self directed learning less comfortable. What is a young person to do with no obvious and proscribed schedule? Do they look for a place with known schedules and linear achievement?

It would be sad to lose schools like Hampshire. The faculty member from Goddard College has it exactly right: “What this purge leaves behind is a system of higher education even more focused on either training only the elites in the liberal arts or training everyone else as obedient workers for a corporate work force.” Keeping the masses from any sort of critical thinking is how our country ended up in the mess it's in now.

The price tag is the problem. I'm surprised Antioch College isn't mentioned here, which began operating in 1852 under the leadership of Horace Mann, one of the nation's preeminent leaders of education reform, an abolitionist, Massachusetts legislator, Congressman, and champion of public schools. Mann's philosophy: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." Why should getting an education to follow that philosophy cost so much? In 1978 the tuition was $10K and now it's $48K plus another $10K of estimated expenses.

Pat on the back to my sixteen year old self for not applying. They had me at “communal vegetable garden” — but who knew even that had administrative overhead.

“A recurring question is, ‘How are you preparing our children for the world?’” Individualism, self-expression, creativity, etc. don’t have the appeal they used to have . . . They’ve eroded over the years to the point where I feel like an anachronism for still believing they’re still paramount. I feel horrible about this and it’s one of the main things contributing to my present dark cynicism. Seeing these, what I consider to be educational jewels, going the way of the Dodo, and knowing that almost no one these days believes the values these schools advance prepare a child for the modern world, just pulls me down a little further . . .

This is terribly sad... Such colleges are needed for the high quality education they offer and because they provide much needed alternatives to the mass production, bureaucratic, corporatized, and standardized schooling that goes on most everywhere else. Perhaps some of those billionaires who try to shape or destroy American politics could do well to endow such colleges, without strings.

Read this article and then bounce over to the article titled 'The New 30-Something'. The picture becomes clear.

While it is depressing that these alternative colleges are going belly up, they were hardly "the cutting edge of academia" your headline suggests. Rather, they tended to be havens for students unable or unwilling to get through four years of strenuous academics, and who opted instead to get college degrees for clearing brush and recycling the leftovers in the cafeteria.

“Tuition, room and board at Hampshire College is more than $63,000 a year, which is typical for elite private colleges. In 1970, tuition, room and board at private four-year colleges and universities was about $3,000 a year — about $20,000, adjusted for inflation — according to federal statistics.” Herein lies the problem. Traditional, experimental, even public colleges simply cost too much. Unless you are in a very lucrative field and go to a college where you make lots of connections, then the earnings potential of a $230,000 college degree are swallowed up by 30 years of paying off that bill. Even with 50% financial aid, that’s a serious debt to start career life with.

“What this purge leaves behind is a system of higher education even more focused on either training only the elites in the liberal arts or training everyone else as obedient workers for a corporate work force.” Yep, because those are the only two options: boot licker or overseer. Perhaps the change is that students realize that they can "find themselves" for far less than even colleges like Hampshire charge. And then, when they're ready, they can gain the necessary tools to lick boots.

These novel colleges need to adjust to changing times. That means consolidation of the schools to a smaller number of viable campuses -- perhaps in an urban setting -- and the expansion of online programs. It also will mean fewer tenured faculty lines and administrative positions unfortunately. The liberal arts are need to save society from the lockstep drive of parents and administrators enamored with the STEM and business imperative. The liberal arts help us to resist the slippery slope of Fahrenheit 451 and absorption by the Borg.

If colleges cannot provide a cost effective service they will close like any business. Higher education had been shielded from economic reality by the readiness of the government and private lenders to support the system. That’s ending as lenders don’t want to be left holding the bag for loans that can never be paid back.If these colleges want to support radical ideas they can start by radically rethinking their way of operating.

The enrollment contract that is written about here for the student who has been accepted early decision to Hampshire is not the original enrollment contract between the student and Hampshire College. When the student applied to Hampshire College for early decision, they and their parents and school sign an enrollment contract that Hampshire then accepts, with the student's acceptance, in this case in mid December, 2018. This enrollment contract has nothing in it that would caution students in any way. It was February 1, 2019, when the President of Hampshire College and the Dean of Admissions sent out a letter to the enrolled Early Decision students, when a second contract was sent out to Early Decision students, with confusing and hostile language that seemed to indicate that these enrolled students would need to "agree to enroll" with different enrollment guarantees, ones that would be difficult to accept. I have these documents as a parent of an early accepted Hampshire College student, enrolled for Fall 2019. The second contract signed by the President of Hampshire College and the Dean of Admissions seems to be part of a strategy of disorientation for incoming students, for students studying at Hampshire, and for others in and outside of the Hampshire College community. I hope that Ben Smith and their family might be encouraged to re-assess their enrollment contract and their decision.

One reason that these alternative and experimental schools are closing is that the larger, better financed traditional colleges have expanded their offerings and taken up their mantle. So, what was “cutting edge” in the 1960s is now just another potential major offered by many of the larger universities. Unfortunately, the need for these schools has diminished. In addition, today’s students are not as “micro-focused” and want the options and amenities that are offered at more traditional schools. It’s just another example of change. Whether it is good or bad, only time will tell. But, like everything else time marches on and those that cannot adapt, usually will not succeed in the future.

This is the stunner: "In 1970, tuition, room and board at private four-year colleges and universities was about $3,000 a year," and as the article says, adjusted for inflation, that's $20,000 today. Yet these institutions now charge $60-70K/year. Explain that, please. A student working full-time in the summer, at 1970s minimum wage, could earn 1/3 the total cost of college. Nowadays that would be impossible, given today's minimum wage and today's college costs. No wonder parents feel they need return on investment, and no wonder students feel they need immediately marketable degrees.