Mount Ida is closing, offering to send its students to UMass Dartmouth and agreeing to let UMass Amherst acquire its real estate under a deal announced Friday.

MassLive first reported on Wednesday that the University of Massachusetts was in talks to acquire Mount Ida, a small private college on 74 acres in Newton, Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker confirmed the talks when asked by reporters on Thursday.

The Mount Ida campus is slated to function as an extension of UMass Amherst, helping "establish Greater Boston-based career preparation programs for UMass Amherst students in high-demand fields that serve the Massachusetts innovation economy," according to a joint release. The Mount Ida campus is close to technology firms in and around Newton and Needham.

Under the agreement, which was approved by University of Massachusetts trustees meeting in Amherst on Friday, Mount Ida students in "good standing" will be offered automatic admission at UMass Dartmouth, a campus that is roughly an hour away from Newton.

The 280 faculty and staff, part-time and full-time, will be laid off. They are expected to receive severance packages, a Mount Ida spokeswoman said.

The closure of Mount Ida and the UMass plan to open a satellite campus are still subject to the approval from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education. The real estate deal does not face the board's approval.

"The challenges for small colleges in the current economic and demographic landscape are significant," Mount Ida President Barry Brown said in a statement. "Working with UMass, we have devised a way forward that ensures the well-being of our students, enhances the academic capacity of the region, and preserve's Mount Ida's legacy and history."

Earlier this year, there were talks between Mount Ida and Lasell College, also a small private institution in Newton, but those fell through.

Mount Ida has 24 buildings and 820 residential beds.

According to the release, UMass Amherst is taking on Mount Ida's debt after acquiring the campus for "roughly fair market value." The release did not have further details.

Spring 2018 classes at Mount Ida will continue and end with commencement for graduating seniors.

Founded in 1899, Mount Ida has 1,450 students and is less than ten miles away from downtown Boston.

Once under the UMass brand, it'll be known as "Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst" and "operate as an extension of the Amherst campus and will not enroll undergraduate students directly," according to the release from Mount Ida and UMass.

The extra space provided by a Mount Ida campus will allow UMass Amherst to grow by about 1,000 additional undergraduate enrollees, according to a UMass Amherst spokesman.

This post has been updated with additional information from officials from UMass and Mount Ida.