A sadness: two MA colleges

[magid]

Hampshire College has announced that they’re closing at the end of the fall 2026 semester (Why in the middle of the academic year? I have no idea, but it seems really odd.).

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/hampshire-college-closing-amherst-massachusetts/

I’ve never been there, but apparently it’s part of my emotional-geographical mental landscape anyway, given my need to post about it: so many years of listening to WFCR in the mornings, WBUR in the evenings growing up. (Apparently WFCR is just known now as the western MA NPR affiliate, not Five College Radio. And four starts with F, too.) This is yet another sadness in an already challenging time. I feel badly for the current students, and worse for the employees. Will the other four institutions in the five college area be hiring? What will happen to the campus? It won’t help the local businesses, either.

Closer to where I grew up, apparently Anna Maria College’s future is also shaky. I have a lot of the same questions, though presumably that not being definite gives people more time to plan?

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/anna-maria-college-massachusetts-risk-of-closing/?intcid=CNR-02-0623

Comments

I feel this.

[avivasedai]

The post-secondary landscape in CA is shaky. I feel your concerns about an entire college/university closing: where are the jobs for all of those people, and how will this screw up all of those students? This is so difficult, terrible, unfortunate.