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Location and a beautiful campus are certainly big factors in choosing a college, and we've got both. COA is located on 35 shore-front acres on Mount Desert Island, known for being the home of Acadia National Park and a popular vacation destination.

Turrets building, COA's administrative heart

The school year starts with sea breezes and warm sun, then moves into a colorful, crisp fall. The winter brings soft snow and frozen lakes, and the school year ends as spring brings green back to the trees. All of these seasons are a beautiful backdrop to our buildings, which are a mix of old estates and newer facilities built in a traditional New England style. There's no doubt our campus is amazing, but the educational program and members of the COA community are even more remarkable. 
 

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Creative, self-motivated students come to us from 35 states and 33 foreign countries, bringing with them an enthusiasm for learning and a dedication to making the world a better place.

Our students defy labels and stereotypes, redefining today's expectations for college students, they are:

• engaged in what is happening around them 
• active rather than passive learners and problem solvers
• letting their passions determine what they will do when they graduate

One aspect of COA's uniqueness is its small size of 280 students. Some people may think this sounds like heaven, a nice transition from their equally small high school or a long-awaited break from the mayhem of a large school. Others may wince at such a low number, but as you continue on the tour pay attention to all the things our size offers and maybe you'll see why it makes so much sense to us to keep things small and personal. 
 

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A small school equals small class size.  Do you do better in school when you are an anonymous part of the crowd, or when you can make your voice heard? Do you appreciate teachers who just lecture at you and your 300 fellow classmates, or teachers who take the time during and after class to hear your opinions and get to know who you are? You should start your college search by asking yourself these questions, amongst others. The student to faculty ratio at COA is 10:1 and the average class size is 15.

Class being held in the Davis Center

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 This opportunity to establish yourself as an individual puts a lot of the weight on your shoulders and begs more questions:

• What do you want to accomplish, both socially and academically?
• What do you believe in?
• What do you want to put into and take from the world?

At COA we believe education isn't about training you to be just a marine biologist, a history teacher, or a graphic designer; it's about teaching you to be an open, perceptive, well-informed citizen of the world. 
 

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 In order to become this global citizen you first have to realize what a complex and interconnected place this world is. That's where COA's only major comes in:
Human Ecology.

Human Ecology is the practice of studying this interconnectedness. COA was started over thirty years ago by people who believed that traditional education was not adequately preparing students to approach and solve problems. The school continues to thrive on the belief that students learn more when they are shown the big picture instead of being restricted to departments and when they can experience what they are learning first hand.

For example:
You want to save the Manatees from extinction. To create a realistic way of accomplishing this goal you need to know about the biology of Manatees and what makes them so prone to boat accidents, you need to know the economy of the region they are being threatened in so you can understand why people aren't doing more to protect them, which leads you to exploration of the history of the fishing industry there. Without understanding and investigating all these things you will not accomplish your goal.

     
 
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Student working in the field.

Students are also required to do a 400 hour internship and complete a term-long senior project. This allows them to experience a possible career firsthand, secure connections they can utilize after graduation, and create a lasting culmination of their studies at COA.

A student spending the summer observing sea birds on one of the two islands COA owns.

Internships and Senior Projects can vary dramatically from one student to the next. One student may work studying sea-birds on one of COA's islands and another may work at a school in Guatemala. One may create a small business plan and another may design an educational exhibit for the college's natural history museum. 
 

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As you can tell, self-directed learning is a popular term here, but we don't want you to make all the big decisions without guidance. When you arrive at COA you'll be given an advisor who will help you make sense of our short list of requirements and guide you through your first months at college. As you begin to focus on your academic goals you may change your advisor to suit your needs. 
 

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What can you do with a degree in Human Ecology?
Maybe a better question is: What can't you do?

Journalist, Ichthyologist, Botanist, Comedian, Quantum Physicist, Unitarian Minister, Marine Biologist, Teacher, Curator... and the list of what COA grads are doing goes on and on. 
 

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Okay, enough of the academics. Time to answer the question,
"What do you do on an island in Maine?"

Quite a bit actually. We are in an amazing natural location, have very creative students and a dedicated student life committee. The combination makes for a full yet non-traditional social calendar.

While COA has no college level sports teams, it doesn't mean we're not an active community. Pick-up games of soccer and ultimate frisbee abound. Every student gets a free membership at the local YMCA which allows for volleyball, basketball, swimming and indoor soccer in the winter. Of course there's plenty of hiking, kayaking, biking and canoeing as well since the ocean is spread out in front of us and Acadia National Park is our backyard.

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Throughout the school year COA hosts speaker series, film series, coffee houses and bands. This past year we hosted the Ann Arbor Film Festival, ran a speaker series on Ecological Entrepreneurship, and were treated to a international talent show.

A student who knits well may offer to teach a group once week and SCUBA enthusiasts may start their own club. A combination of varied student talents and the type of enthusiasm and encouragement you can only get in a small community make for quite the eclectic mix of activities. 
 

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Thanks for coming along on the virtual tour of COA. We encourage you to explore the rest of our website so you can read class descriptions, see some senior projects, find out what's currently going on in the community and learn how you can visit us in person.