Hampshire College, which missed its enrollment goal by nearly half last fall and has struggled financially for years, is back on the hot seat with its accreditor.

The New England Commission of Higher Education, or NECHE, is taking the rare step of requiring the small, private liberal-arts college in Massachusetts to prove that it deserves to avoid probation and retain its accreditation, according to a joint statement released on Tuesday. A loss of accreditation can often pose substantial risk of closure.

By placing Hampshire on “show cause,” as the step is formally called, the commission is questioning whether the college is meeting its accreditation standards — namely, whether it has the “sufficient human, financial, information, physical, and technological resources and capacity to support its mission.”

NECHE cited four concerns in Tuesday’s statement, which Hampshire will need to respond to at its meeting with the commission in early June:

• Failure to sustain enrollment growth; enrollment dropped from 842 in the fall of 2024 to 747 in the fall of 2025
• The thwarted sale of college-owned land for a multi-building development
• Hampshire’s inability thus far to refinance $21 million in bond debt — money that bondholders could demand it to start repaying in September
• Spending down its unrestricted endowment to help finance operations (prior Chronicle reporting found the college spent about a fifth of its endowment on operating expenses in each of the last two fiscal years alone)

A determination from the commission will follow within 30 days of the meeting, although it is likely to come sooner, Lawrence M. Schall, president of NECHE, wrote in an email to The Chronicle. Hampshire remains accredited and eligible for federal funding, including student financial aid, while on show cause.

The stakes are high if Hampshire can’t effectively make its case. Probation would subject the college to “special scrutiny,” such as additional reports and site visits,while it works toward a compliance deadline set by the commission, according to NECHE. (The maximum time period is four years for colleges offering four-year degrees.) In a more-extreme circumstance, losing accreditation could effectively force the institution to close, as unaccredited colleges are not eligible to receive federal Title-IV funding or offer federal financial aid to students.

In the joint statement, Jennifer Chrisler, president of Hampshire, wrote: “I look forward to working with NECHE to ensure the success of our sustainability plan and preserve the remarkable experience of our students.” Hampshire declined to answer further questions from The Chronicle on Wednesday.

Drumm McNaughton, chief executive of The Change Leader, a consulting firm that specializes in accreditation remediation and change management, said that a show-cause sanction is not a routine exercise for accreditors and usually follows prior warnings and formal notices. Schall, at NECHE, confirmed that the commission has invoked show cause two other times in the last five years — both in 2021, with Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, in New Hampshire, and Bay State College, in Boston. Both institutions have since shuttered.

The vast majority of colleges that are put on show cause don’t “make it back,”McNaughtonsaid. Typically, “that’s the death knell.” He noted that not all national accreditors consider probation as an option under this type of sanction, though. (And in some high-profile cases, colleges have been able to bounce back.)

In fact, Hampshire had rebounded from show cause back in 2019, after promisingleadership changes, reducing staff, and presenting ambitious enrollment and fund-raising goals. It’s continued to struggle financially since then, with an independent auditor’s report last year expressing “substantial doubt” in Hampshire’s ability to continue operating.

The college’s prior placement on show cause wouldn’t necessarily color how the commission approaches the June review, Schall wrote. “Our look is forward, not backward looking.”

The college, meanwhile, is signaling that it intends to fight to keep itself afloat and is not considering a merger. Jose Fuentes, chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, wrote in Tuesday’s joint statement that the board is “focused on refinancing the college’s debt, working to continue fund-raising efforts, realizing land development, and supporting the work to increase enrollment.”

The college’s ongoing “Change in the Making” fund-raising campaign has brought in close to $55 million as of January. Chrisler told The Chronicle earlier this year that the institution has also implemented “micro-operational adjustments” to increase enrollment. This includes virtual tours, more tailored engagement with prospects in its enrollment pipeline, a student-led open-house program, and more recruiter travel.

https://www.chronicle.com/article/falling-enrollment-and-financial-problems-just-put-this-small-colleges-accreditation-at-risk