Princeton Review places COA among nation’s best for student experience

The Review's 2027 Best 392 Colleges ranks College of the Atlantic near the top for sustainability, LGBTQ+ friendliness, outdoor engagement, campus food, and quality of life.

“COA students come here each looking for something different…[and] weave their own tapestry of campus culture, which includes a little bit of everything and everyone” — student survey submission.

College of the Atlantic earned top national rankings across multiple measures of student life in The Princeton Review's 2027 Best Colleges guide.

The school ranked #1 in "Green Matters: Everyone Cares About Conservation," #2 for "LGBTQ-Friendly," #3 in "Great Outdoors: Students Get Outside," #5 for "Best Campus Food," #6 in "Most Active Student Government," and #8 in "Best Quality of Life."

The college, students told the Princeton Review, is perfect for people who are “highly committed to curiosity and bettering the planet.” One student described the community as a “perfect…mix of art/theater kids and science kids, both extroverted and introverted, down to go hunt for worms in the forest at 2 a.m. or make elaborate costumes for a one-off play written in 12 hours.”

Kayakers enjoying autumn scenery on water — Students of COA lead and experience outdoor trips with the help of the COA Outing Program.

Rankings for outdoor engagement and quality of life reflect the college's location on Mount Desert Island and the role of experiential learning in student life. Students take advantage of field-based courses, the COA Outing Program, and easy access to Acadia National Park and Frenchman Bay.

On campus, students weave academics, hobbies, and relaxation together. The school’s small size “means that academic and social life often blend together, with discussions continuing over meals in the Take-A-Break dining hall or spontaneous gatherings in the library or on the pier," one student told to the Princeton Review.

Reflecting the top-10 placement for active student governance, the college's weekly All College Meeting gives students a central role in campus governance. Students moderate discussions, consider policy proposals, hear updates from committees, and share opportunities across campus.

Ranked among the nation's best, COA's dining hall is committed to regional, fresh, from-scratch food. Work-study students prepare meals and baked goods daily in Take-a-Break, the campus dining hall serving students, faculty, and staff, and the Sea Urchin Cafe, a popular lunch stop.

The Princeton Review also highlights COA on their Green College Honor Roll, for colleges that earned the highest possible rating in their Green category. COA students' healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyles and the college's green policies and buildings earned this ranking. Through work-study at the Community Energy Center and classes on sustainability, green architecture, and food systems, COA prepares students to participate in today's environmentally focused world.

The College of the Atlantic community enjoys regional foods along with meat and produce from COA — Work-study students cook and bake fresh food every day in the Take-a-Break dining hall, feeding other students, staff, and faculty.

"We are delighted to name College of the Atlantic one of our Best Colleges for 2027 and we recommend it to students searching for their ‘best-fit’ college,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's Editor-in-Chief and lead author of The Best 392 Colleges. "College of the Atlantic has outstanding academic programs. We also took into account the candid feedback we received about it from its very own customers—its enrolled students," he added.

COA earned places on other lists from the Princeton Review, including:

#12 Most Politically Liberal Students
#12 Most Engaged in Community Service
#13 Lots of Race/Class Interaction
#17 Students Study the Most
#17 Most Politically Active Students
#17 Least Religious Students
#18 Friendliest Students
#19 Great Financial Aid
#20 Most Beautiful Campus
#23 Town-Gown Relations are Great
#24 Professors Get High Marks

The Best 392 Colleges is the 35th annual edition of The Princeton Review's flagship college guide which debuted in 1992. It is one of more than 150 Princeton Review books in a line published by Penguin Random House. The book and its annual student-survey-based college rankings have been featured on NBC TODAY more than two dozen times over the years and referenced by media from NPR to The Wall Street Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

At College of the Atlantic, rigorous academic work means more than memorization. Field work and hands-on lessons give students fascinating experiences while still preparing them for their next steps.

College of the Atlantic is dedicated to the study and practice of human ecology—the interdisciplinary exploration of the relationships between humans and their social, natural, and built environments. Students integrate the arts, sciences, and humanities through a self‑designed major grounded in experiential and place‑based learning. Intentionally small, with about 350 students and 35 faculty, COA fosters close collaboration, individualized study, and deep engagement with local and global communities. Founded in 1969 on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the college has been named the #1 Green College by The Princeton Review every year since 2016, reflecting its long‑standing commitment to environmental leadership, creativity, and meaningful change.