College of the Atlantic places an extremely high value on effective writing. Writing is an essential skill for almost all fields of study. We also recognize that students have many different learning styles, and that for some, writing can be a difficult and even intimidating process. As such, we have developed a writing requirement that is both rigorous and flexible.

There are two components to College of the Atlantic's writing requirement. First, all entering students must take at least one writing class during their first four terms at COA. A range of writing courses--three different writing seminars, Advanced Composition, and Introduction to Journalism--are offered every winter. Other writing classes, including Science Writing and Technical Writing, are offered on a rotating basis. Students may also opt to take two writing-focused courses to meet the writing requirement instead of one writing class. Writing-focused courses are not writing seminars per se, but are courses that explicitly emphasize the writing and re-writing process. Recently, Philosophy of Education, Native American Literature, and the History of Film were offered as writing-focused courses.

The second component of the writing requirement consists of a review of a student's writing at the end of her or his second year at the college. This review is conducted by writing faculty and is designed to identify students with writing difficulties. If a student is so identified, he or she will meet with a team of faculty to develop an individualized learning plan that will enable the student to improve her or his writing. Once the terms of this plan are fulfilled, the student is considered to have met the second and final stage of COA's writing requirement.