As colleges continue to close or merge — more than 60 in the last five years, and 14 just since the start of the pandemic — a growing chorus of voices is raising alarms that this is taking more than just an emotional and economic toll on students, alumni, employees and communities. They say colleges like Hampshire bring choice to an increasingly conformist higher education landscape; serve as incubators for education innovation; help students thrive who would be lost at more conventional and rigid institutions; and turn out graduates with the kind of creativity employers want and need.
