He remained at the school for his post-secondary education, where his strong academic performance resulted in his being elected valedictorian of his class.

[1] After his graduation in 1859, Hopkins was employed by St. John's as an instructor until the college's temporary closure during the Civil War.

During his tenure, enrollment doubled from about 140 to over 280 and the school was recognized in an 1892 report by United States Commissioner of Education William Torrey Harris as a "Division A" college for women, along with 13 others.

"[3] Hopkins resigned in 1890 and was succeeded by John Franklin Goucher, who became the school's namesake upon its renaming in 1910.

Hopkins died on December 17, 1919, at his daughter's home in Chicago, Illinois, three days before his 78th birthday.