College Viability Inspection Report

Hampshire College

Massachusetts · Private, not-for-profit

Hampshire College is a private, nonprofit institution in Massachusetts, enrolling 712 students as of 2024. It graduates 51% of students in four years, returns 78% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $27,895 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 5 are flagged: Retention, Revenue to Expenses, Endowment, Tuition Allocation, and Price vs. Outcomes. This report benchmarks Hampshire College's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

Hampshire College Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

Hampshire College — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Hampshire College. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate51.0%-12.1%67th
Six-Year Graduation Rate60.0%-9.1%58th
Full-Time Retention Rate78.0%+5.4%54th
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate60.0%+1.6%72nd
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap-8.0pp-185.1%8th
Pell Share of Cohort28.4%+10.7%28th

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio0.68×-14.8%1st
Total FTE Enrollment712-1.3%27th
Endowment Value$27.2M-50.1%35th
Net Assets (End of Year)$58.3M-33.5%39th

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %20.4%-17.6%11th
Student Support Spending %20.9%+68.7%80th
Administrative Spending %28.2%-6.5%81st
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio1.47×+18.9%17th
Average Net Price$27,895+0.8%81st
Net Price: $0-30K Income$13,749+16.7%50th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$15,251+6.5%55th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$18,165+41.0%59th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$25,447not reported75th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$37,221-20.2%86th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
Hampshire College's retention rate fell below 80% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
Hampshire College's 4-year graduation rate stayed at or above 51% in all 5 reported years — above the 50% threshold.
Student OutcomesCleared
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
Hampshire College's Pell graduation gap stayed at or below 10 percentage points in all 5 eligible years.
Student OutcomesCleared
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
Hampshire College's revenue-to-expense ratio fell below 1.0 in 4 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. 2024: 0.68×.
Financial HealthTriggered
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
Hampshire College's total enrollment fell from 721 to 712 students between 2020 and 2024 (-1.2%) — less than the 5% decline that triggers this flag.
Financial HealthCleared
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
Hampshire College's endowment is $27.2M — under $50 million — and grew -50.1% between 2020 and 2024, below the 15% growth threshold. Both conditions are met.
Financial HealthTriggered
High Cost, Low Completion
Hampshire College costs more than the national median but also graduates students at above-median rates — only one of two conditions is met.
Value for MoneyCleared
Spending on Students Below the National Median
Hampshire College spends $1.47 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin (2024) — below the national median of $2.75 in 5 of 5 reported years.
Value for MoneyTriggered
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Both conditions were met: Hampshire College's net price rose while the 6-year graduation rate declined between 2020 and 2024 — a prompt to ask whether tuition increases are translating into stronger student outcomes.
Value for MoneyTriggered