Hampshire College, Liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, US.
Hampshire College is a liberal arts institution in Amherst, located in western Massachusetts. The institution uses written evaluations rather than letter grades to document student work and progress.
The institution was founded in 1965 as an experiment in educational reform and opened to its first students in 1970. The founders aimed to create an alternative to the rigid structures of other American colleges.
The campus was built on former farmland and retains open meadows and walking trails from that earlier period. Students use these spaces for informal gatherings and outdoor projects.
The campus sits in a hilly and wooded area and is easiest to reach by car, as public transport options are limited. Visitors should plan a few hours to walk through the grounds.
Students do not follow preset majors and instead assemble their own areas of focus. Each phase of study concludes with a larger project that demonstrates the skills developed up to that point.
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