U.S. News & World Report:
- One of the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the U.S.
- #12 Most Innovative liberal arts college in the U.S.
- #11 Best Value College, a measure of academic quality and affordability
- #65 in Top Performers in Social Mobility
Princeton Review:
COA ranks among the top colleges in the country on the Princeton Review’s lists including:
- #1 - Top 50 Green Colleges
- Great Campus Food
- Great Financial Aid
- Great Professors
- Great Quality of Life
- LGBTQ-Friendly
- Most Beautiful Campus
- Most Politically Active Students
Green Colleges:
COA has been repeatedly recognized for our college-wide commitment to ecological practices.
- Sierra Club’s Cool Schools: #1 (greenest college in America) in 2016, 2017
- The Princeton Review’s Top 50 Green Colleges: #1 in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
- The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE): #5 top performing sustainable baccalaureate institution in 2019
Ashoka U Changemaker Campus:
COA has been a Changemaker Campus since 2008, recognized through a rigorous, global selection process with this leading designation for social innovation in higher education.
Washington Monthly:
- Top liberal arts colleges: #20—this ranking is based largely on colleges’ contributions to the public good.
MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient:
COA is one of six colleges selected to receive a “genius” grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which cited our innovative, mission-driven approach to liberal arts education.
“At this tiny Bar Harbor school, students ‘don’t just take classes’: they immerse themselves in experiences and in ‘an intimate, friendly community’ of do-ers and critical thinkers.… This unique educational model helps students ‘merge [their] talents/interests in a meaningful and applicable way,’ and allows for graduate-level research and real-world work experience at the undergraduate level…. Self-motivated learning is everything here, and College of the Atlantic is for ‘idealists with elbow grease.’”
— Princeton Review’s The Best 381 Colleges
The COA research station lighthouse on Great Duck Island.
Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award recipient:
NAFSA: Association of International Educators honored COA for our innovative international initiatives.
