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Private College

Hampshire College

Private College in Amherst, MA. Six-year graduation rate 54%. Median 10-year earnings $46,938.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
Hampshire College · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$46,938
Median debt at grad
$26,893
Mobility score
0.7
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
54.3%
Federal loan default
0%

Ten years after entry, the median Hampshire College student earns $46,938 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 54%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $26,893 in debt — in line with the national norm.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags
  • ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented

Admissions

Acceptance rate
75%
Applicants
2,132
Yield rate
14.4%

Hampshire College accepts 75% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. 2,132 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 14% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class.

Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)

These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.

Test 25th–75th percentile Submitted
SAT Evidence-Based Reading
SAT Math
ACT Composite

IPEDS Admissions · 2024

Apply at Hampshire College →

Academics

Full-time retention
78%
Transfer-out rate
0%
Student:faculty
13:1

Six-year completion sits at 54%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. 78% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in five are gone before sophomore year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. The 13:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.

Financial Aid

Average net price
$27,895
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
100%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
62%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 716 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price lands at $27,895 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. The income table below is the number that matters — $13,749 at $0–30k versus $37,221 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 100% of students receive it, averaging $45,325. 62% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.

Entering first-year students

A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.

% receiving grants
100%
Average grant
$46,145

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 259 students

Net price by family income

The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.

Family income band Average net price
$0–30k $13,749
$30–48k $15,251
$48–75k $18,165
$75–110k $25,447
$110k+ $37,221

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 442 of these 716 students, totalling $2,562,418 — an average of $5,797 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Hampshire County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,382/mo
1 bedroom
$1,580/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$2,004/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

VA caution flag

Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring

GI Bill students
5
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
No

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare Hampshire College with peer institutions

How we evaluate Hampshire College

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →