The article explains the limited presence of geography in New England higher education as a result of the structure of the region's higher education system. Blending the geography and history of education literatures, it identifies type of control (public vs. private), institution type, urban location, multi-campus university systems, and the weak position of geography in secondary schools and community colleges as key influences upon the existence of an undergraduate major in geography. The article also considers windows of opportunity when geography departments were commonly established and provides selected examples of institutions that closed geography departments.