<p>The 2012 Princeton Review College Rankings just came out, and interestingly, Hampshire has fallen off most of the lists:</p>
<h1>5 Administrators Get Low Marks</h1>
<h1>16 Most Politically Active Students</h1>
<p>Makes me wonder if this list has any validity at all, considering that it doesn’t seem as though Hampshire has changed much in the last year. If anything, students consider the change in Presidents to be positive.</p>
<p>Hampshire ranks #94 in Washington Monthly’s [Liberal</a> Arts College Rankings 2012 | Washington Monthly](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings_2012/liberal_arts_rank.php]Liberal”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings_2012/liberal_arts_rank.php)</p>
<p>Liberal Arts colleges are ranked according to, “their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).”</p>
<p>While Hampshire did pretty well in graduating students who eventually earned PhDs (#31), it apparently did nor fare nearly as well in graduating low-income students (#241). I was a little surprised to see Hampshire’s comparatively low ranking in community service participation (#91).</p>
<p>Hampshire was ranked the #6 Hipster College by Uni-go for 2013:
<a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/8c9rezy[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/8c9rezy</a>
“Where the students knew about this list way before you did”</p>
<p>I just noticed that Hampshire seems to have slipped out of the 2013-2014 edition of Loren Pope’s “COLLEGES THAT CHANGE LIVES,” which has been updated Hillary Masel Oswald. What’s up with that? I just sent my daughter there, and now I come to find out that we can no longer expect her life to be changed by the place?!? I wish I had seen the new version of the book before I bought all those t-shirts and stickers.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the latest edition of the book, but Hampshire is still listed as a CTCL member on the CTCL website: [CTCL</a> Members | Colleges That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/list]CTCL”>http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/list)</p>
<p>In any event, I should think that your daughter will be grandfathered (grandmothered?) if she entered Hampshire prior to the new edition ; ) She should still be able to get her life changed.</p>
<p>Whew! I’m glad to think she got in under the wire. But, actually, I was a little bit surprised to see that Hampshire had been removed to make room for new schools like the University of Puget Sound and Willamette University. The CTCL web site explains that colleges are removed from the print editions for the following reasons:</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>So, what I wonder is: Has Hampshire become significantly better known or more popular in the years since the 2006 revision of the book? I can’t imagine that the place is one in which “rankings had indeed become a more important part of their admission process.”</p>
<p>For those of you who are reading this thread: I don’t really consider it important that Hampshire no longer appears in the print edition of “COLLEGES THAT CHANGE LIVES” (except for the fact that I liked to brag about it). I can tell you that, after only a month at the place, my daughter talks as if she has found a new lease on life, which is a much more important indicator of life-changingness as far as I am concerned.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I feel a little bit curious about what may have gone into the new editor’s decision to remove Hampshire, rather than one of the other schools on the list, to make room for the new ones.</p>
<p>Orezero,</p>
<p>Thanks for the interesting explanation. I once taught at University of Puget Sound (UPS), and have been on campus several times in the last few years. It is a great choice for many students in the fine tradition of small liberal arts colleges, and I imagine that it fits into the criteria that Loren Pope originally established as a CTCL.</p>
<p>Still, it seems odd to me that Hampshire would be taken out of the print edition, in favor of a college like UPS. Perhaps Hampshire is indeed “too” well-known, and as such is no longer the sort of ‘hidden gem’ that tended to be on the first CTCL list. I certainly know that there is a group of students, alumnae and employees who feel that Hampshire is no longer on the leading edge of innovation and experimentation in higher ed, and advocate for a series of “re-radicalization” initiatives: <a href=“https://hampedia.org/wiki/Re-Rad[/url]”>https://hampedia.org/wiki/Re-Rad</a></p>
<p>As you note, despite any decisions made by the CTCL book editors, I have objective evidence that Hampshire College indeed changes lives, in the form of our son ('06) and daughter ('09). My daughter is currently interning at a Broadway theatre company as part of her Div III project. Among the 16 interns, she is the sole one hired without yet attaining a B.A., in part on the strength of her extensive experience and knowledge that she gained during her first 3 years at Hampshire.</p>
<p>This college web site ranks Hampshire College on a series of topics, based on surveys submitted by students:
[Hampshire</a> College - Rankings - College Prowler](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/ao9mjaf]Hampshire”>Niche)</p>
<p>B Academics
D+ Athletics
C- Campus Dining
C+ Campus Housing
A+ Campus Strictness
C Computers
B- Diversity
C- Drug Safety
D+ Facilities
B Girls
N/A Greek Life
B Guys
C+ Health & Safety
B- Local Atmosphere
B+ Nightlife
B- Off-Campus Dining
B+ Off-Campus Housing
A- Parking
B Transportation
C Weather</p>
<p>Hampshire appeared in USA Today’s [10</a> quirky colleges you should consider | USA TODAY College](<a href=“USA Today Educate - Teacher & Student Resources & Guides”>USA Today Educate - Teacher & Student Resources & Guides)</p>
<p>The U.S. Dept of Education College Affordability and Transparency Center’s [College</a> Scorecard | The White House](<a href=“http://m.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/higher-education/college-score-card]College”>http://m.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/higher-education/college-score-card) for Hampshire indicates an average annual net price (after grants and scholarships) of $29,770 - a reduction of 9.2% from the previous year. All these data are over a year old, but there it is.</p>
<p>Graduation rate is 61.5% and 0% of students have defaulted on federal loans after 3 years.</p>
<p>A quick glance at similar small liberal arts colleges would indicate that the average net cost is a little lower, the graduation rate is higher, and the loan default rate is a little higher.</p>
<p>[Hampshire</a> College - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/colleges/hampshire-college/]Hampshire”>http://www.forbes.com/colleges/hampshire-college/) was ranked 147th overall and 109th for private colleges in [America’s</a> Top Colleges - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/]America’s”>Forbes America’s Top Colleges List 2022) . </p>
<p>As with the USNWR college rankings, one has to look at the selection methodology (<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2013/07/24/ranking-americas-top-colleges-2013/[/url]”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2013/07/24/ranking-americas-top-colleges-2013/</a>) to see if this is meaningful to you. Forbes draws 22.5% of its ranking weight from <a href=“http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=392[/url]”>http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/SelectTeacher.jsp?sid=392</a> , which seems to me to be a very unreliable and unrepresentative source (although a significant number of professors are rated as, “hot”). And of course, this being Forbes, fully 30% of the ranking is based on alumni ‘success’ in the form of salary and leadership in organizations. The remaining 40% comes from student debt, graduation rate and student receiving prestigious national awards.</p>
<p>My favorite Forbes data about Hampshire was revenue and expenses of sports programs. Basically, the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams each generated about $10K in revenue, which was matched exactly by the expenses for each team. Unfortunately, not data at all on the Ultimate Frisbee team.</p>
<p>Hey ALF! You were featured in the Family Relations Blog this week. You’re famous! And we knew you when…</p>
<p>Yeah, there was once a Hampshire Family listserve that was fairly active, and I compiled all of the family advice comments into a more readable format. The Family Relations bloggers took that compilation and used it as a basis for what they are putting up now. I guess folks don’t use listserves much anymore, but there were far more comments and useful advice posted there from families, compared to the Family Relations blog.</p>
<p>The Princeton Review 2013 rankings came out, and, surprisingly perhaps, Hampshire has dropped off pretty much all the lists. Hampshire College was on only one list, ranking #20 in the [Short</a> Registration](<a href=“College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review”>College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review) list of “Least Beautiful Campus”. Ouch!</p>
<p>Also, in partnership with [U.S</a>. Green Building Council | U.S. Green Building Council](<a href=“http://www.usgbc.org/]U.S”>http://www.usgbc.org/), the Princeton Review published the [Green</a> Guide Colleges (Full List)](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/green-schools-full-list.aspx]Green”>The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2023 Edition | College Rankings | The Princeton Review) and Hampshire didn’t even make that list.</p>
<p>Perhaps most disappointingly, Hampshire fell all the way to #89 on the [Complete</a> Rankings: America’s Coolest Schools - September/October 2013 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club](<a href=“http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201309/coolschools/complete-rankings.aspx]Complete”>Cool Schools 2013 Full Ranking | Sierra Club).</p>
<p>I don’t know what it all means, except that perhaps Hampshire College is losing it’s reputation as an innovative school. That would be too bad if that is the case. At least Hampshire appears to also be losing its reputation as a ‘Stoner’ school!</p>
<p>The Hampshire rankings from the College Niche site (<a href=“2023 Hampshire College Rankings - Niche”>http://colleges.niche.com/hampshire-college/rankings/</a>) are kind of interesting, in that they are the results of student polling. In case you haven’t heard of these guys, they recently ‘rebranded’ themselves: <a href=“http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/10/a-website-for-rating-big-life-decisions/”>http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/10/a-website-for-rating-big-life-decisions/</a></p>
<p>OK, just for fun, The Wire is running a “March Madness” contest on a new topic each day. The topic for today is the Best College in America. As of this moment, Hampshire is now in the Final Four after handily defeating Cornell, Duke, Stanford and Michigan. Right now, Hampshire is going up against William & Mary for a place in the Championship Round. If you want, you can vote at <a href=“http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/03/best-college-brackets/358762/”>http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/03/best-college-brackets/358762/</a></p>
<p>Dang - too late! William & Mary won but given how much smaller Hampshire is, we done good.</p>
<p>Not to mention that William & Mary had a 277-year head start.</p>
<p>That too!</p>
<p>Hampshire was ranked #5 by the Princeton Review in Top Undergraduate Schools for Video Game Design: <a href=“2023 Top Game Design Schools | The Princeton Review”>http://www.princetonreview.com/top-undergraduate-schools-for-video-game-design.aspx</a></p>