Emerson College considering ‘merger’ with Marlboro College

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emerson College
1

"Emerson College is exploring a merger with Marlboro College, a small liberal arts school in southern Vermont.

But according to Emerson President Lee Pelton, it might be easier to think of the prospective agreement more like a $40 million donation to the Boston school.

Officials from the two colleges announced Wednesday morning that they plan to explore a ‘merger’ between Emerson and Marlboro, which is among a number of small Vermont colleges that have struggled financially due to the growing crisis of declining college enrollment.

Under the preliminary deal, Emerson would effectively absorb Marlboro, which would close its scenic Vermont campus next spring and continue on under the Boston college’s liberal arts program." …

https://www.boston.com/news/education/2019/11/06/emerson-marlboro-college-merger

2

Marlboro College has just 144 fulltime students & 2 part-time students enrolled. (Seems more like a large co-ed fraternity than a four year degree granting institution.)

Marlboro College allows students to design their own course of study to which Emerson responded that it offers its students the same opportunity to self direct their studies.

3

“Pelton (Emerson’s president) compared the outlined deal to an individual making a $40 million donation to endow one of Emerson’s existing programs.”

I wonder how the Marlboro folks feel about this comparison. No matter. Marlboro is living on borrowed time and has to cut a deal. It has to eat into its endowment every year to keep the lights on. Once the endowment inevitably runs out, Marlboro will have no options at all.