In late 2019, Marlboro College announced that it would merge with Emerson at the end of the 2019–20 academic year.[31] Under the agreement, finalized on July 23, 2020, Marlboro gave its endowment to Emerson, which created the Marlboro Institute of Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies. Marlboro students were guaranteed admission and tenure-track faculty were guaranteed teaching positions at Emerson.[32] At that time, Marlboro had approximately 150 students.[33] In December 2020, President Lee Pelton announced his planned departure from the college in June 2021 to assume a new role as CEO and President of the Boston Foundation.[34]