RIP, Liberal Arts Colleges. Long Live the Liberal Arts

Step within the stone gates of a liberal arts college, and it’s easy to see the appeal: small classes and sprawling lawns, neo-Gothic architecture and modern amenities. When such institutions were established, many hoped they’d foster an intellectual “awakening” among students. A string of recent closures suggests this mission has gone astray — and it’s college administrators who need the wake-up call.

The recent decision to close Hampshire College in Massachusetts is one such warning. Despite multiyear efforts to fundraise and refinance debts, the school struggled to overcome a precipitous decline in enrollment, which had halved since the early 2000s. Hampshire is hardly alone. According to one estimate, more than a quarter of the nation’s 1,700 private nonprofit four-year colleges and universities, serving some 670,000 students, are at risk of closing or merging within the next decade.