There are no academic departments at College of the Atlantic. Avoiding the intellectual boundaries that result from the segregation of academic departments was a conscious choice of the faculty when the college was founded. As the college has grown, the faculty remains non-departmental to allow for interdisciplinary teaching and research and to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue.

For organizational purposes, however, COA loosely divides its curriculum into three resoura areas:

• Arts and Design
• Environmental Sciences
• Human Studies