Northfield Mount Hermon

Northfield Mount Hermon Today

DLM’s vision of an education for the less privileged remains at the heart of NMH’s education: the school is known to give a generous amount of financial aid to the students, even though its endowment is not that large. Moody's bearded visage and Golden Rule philosophies influence the campus today. To graduate, all students must perform several hours of physical labor each week, be it scrubbing dishes in the dining halls or harvesting maple syrup at the Mount Hermon farm.

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The percentage of international students at NMH is also far above the average of many elite private schools, at 25 percent compared to perhaps 10 percent at other institutions. In many cases, international students make a connection with the school through family members who attended NMH or, in some cases, were evangelized by Moody or his affiliated denominations and religious missions in the 19th century.

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The students at NMH are sometimes described as more culturally or politically liberal than students at other New England private college preparatory schools. NMH has no dress code and is sometimes viewed as informal, tolerant, and progressive.

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In 2004, the Trustees of Northfield Mount Hermon School, forseeing difficult financial challenges, decided to close the beautiful Northfield campus in 2005 and to consolidate the school with a smaller coeducational student body on the Mount Hermon campus. This decision has been controversial. Before consolidation, the school had about 1100 students enrolled per year; afterward, it is expected that enrollment will decrease to around 600.

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