Soka University to acquire Middlebury Institute, with plans to keep many programs intact.

The acronym will live on under a new owner and a new name at MIIS. The Middlebury Institute for International Studies will become the Monterey Institute of International Studies at Soka University of America in a deal announced on Aug. 19 and expected to close in September. Applications for a 2027 incoming class will be accepted starting Oct. 1.

“The world-class graduate programs continuing at Monterey are a strong fit with Soka University of America’s mission and educational values,” Ed Feasel, president of Soka, said in a statement. “Bringing these programs into the Soka community strengthens opportunities for students and faculty while preserving the distinctive academic excellence that has made these graduate programs successful.”

Soka currently serves 480 undergraduates from more than 40 countries on its Southern California campus. “If Soka was going to build a graduate program, this is what we would want to create,” Feasel told the Weekly in May. “Our mission is to foster global citizens who lead contributive lives.”

Officials at Middlebury, based in Vermont, announced in 2025 they would close down most MIIS programs by 2027. (Middlebury will continue to operate the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies on the MIIS campus, as well as a dorm downtown.)

Master’s programs slated to be to cut include environmental policy. On the language interpretation front, the list to keep includes only Chinese and Spanish, eliminating Korean, French, Japanese and more.

A spokesperson says the deal includes the entire campus; a price has not been disclosed.