Every student must take at least two courses in the sciences, two in arts and design, and two in the humanities/social sciences. These six courses help ensure that students gain a breadth of knowledge and skills and become familiar with some of the traditional academic disciplines and the relationships between them.

Environmental sciences at College of the Atlantic include biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Within biology, we offer a wide range of classes, with a particular emphasis on natural history, ecology and evolution, and organismal biology.

Classes in arts and design include visual arts, music, performance arts, graphic design, museum studies, and architecture. Art history, film history, and similar classes also fulfill the arts and design requirement. However, at least one arts and design class must have a studio or performance component.

The humanities and social sciences, which we refer to simply as human studies, provide students with grounding in the philosophical, cultural, political, and literary frameworks of the world we share. These courses also increase students' abilities to analyze critically and communicate verbally. Disciplines which belong to the human studies grouping include anthropology, economics, education, history, law, literature and writing, peace and conflict studies, philosophy, politics, psychology, and social theory.