It expects to graduate its last students in 2023 and plans on becoming a research institute called the Mills Institute.[1][34][35] In June, the college announced a plan to merge with Northeastern University and become a coeducational institute on the Mills campus.[4] Following protests by many alumnae and in response to a lawsuit by two Mills College trustees, one of them president of the alumnae association, on August 17, 2021 an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled that the merger must be postponed until September 3 and Mills must provide access to its financial statements to substantiate the need for the college to close.[36] The stay was lifted on September 13, and the following day the trustees voted to confirm the merger.[6]