had approximately 150 students. Academics Undergraduate Freshmen were required to meet the "Clear Writing Requirement" by submitting an acceptable portfolio of at least 20 pages (4,000 words) of nonfiction writing to the English Committee. With the guidance of tutors, juniors and seniors developed and followed an individualized "Plan of Concentration", often interdisciplinary, of which at least 20% was required to consist of an independent project prepared without direct faculty input; most students' plans culminated in a thesis. Students defended their work in an oral examination before one or more Marlboro faculty members and an outside evaluator unconnected to the college but with expertise in the student's field of study. Marlboro's strengths included Asian studies, religion and theology, and life sciences. In March 2014, Marlboro and five nearby colleges, Community College of Vermont, Landmark College, the School for International Training, Union Institute, and Vermont Technical College, formed the Windham Higher Education Cooperative, allowing students to take one course a semester at another participating institution. Graduate Marlboro College Graduate and Professional Studies began in 1998. Primarily aimed at working professionals and focused on techology, in 2010 it shifted to programs focused on socially responsible management and master's studies in teaching (teaching with technology, teaching for social justice, and TESOL). later added an accelerated Master's track open to undergraduates in some programs. The graduate school was initially located in nearby Brattleboro. It moved to the main college campus in Marlboro in April 2017, and after that offered courses increasingly online and instituted a teach-out. Enrollment was suspended for 2019–20 and graduate programs were not transferred to Emerson under the merger agreement. Rankings and reputation In The Princeton Reviews 2014 annual college guide, Marlboro College received the highest possible academic rating of 99 and was ranked #1 nationally for the quality of its faculty. In 2017, U.S. News & World Report ranked it #117 among liberal arts colleges in the United States. In 2006 Loren Pope wrote in Colleges That Change Lives that "the Marlboro adventure" was "far more intense and intellectually demanding than Harvard, any other Ivy, or Ivy clone". Student life and governance Marlboro was founded on an ethos of independence combined with community participation. Students, faculty, and staff made decisions together in weekly "Town Meetings", and there was an elected community court. Students, faculty, and staff served on elected committees that played a role in hiring decisions and steering the curriculum.