Support for travel and expeditionary learning

The College of the Atlantic Fund for Expeditionary Learning provides students with up to $1800 to support global and civic engagement and experiential, travel-related learning. Supported projects include COA courses with a travel component as well as independent studies and residencies. Funds can be used to support both domestic and foreign travel. Students in good academic, financial, and social standing may begin accessing their funds as early as their second year.

Criteria for award of the COA Fund for Expeditionary Learning:

The program supports:

  • Fees and travel expenses associated with credit-bearing activities that have a non-local travel component, (i.e. 100 miles or greater for classes, residencies, independent studies, internships, or senior projects).
  • Materials and equipment up to $500 of total award.
  • Travel, room, and board expenses to conferences related to the students field of study and assuming that a) the student has attempted to reduce the cost of attendance as much as possible by making use of student scholarships and rates associated with that conference, and b) the student is making a meaningful contribution to the conference (presentation, panel participant, workshop organizer, etc.).

The program does not support:

  • Tuition, honorariums, non-COA program fees (exceptions: EcoLeague or NOLS) or stipends of any kind. Similarly, the fund does not support non-travel lab fees or long-term (more than 2 weeks) housing.

Disbursements will be processed three times each academic year (fall, winter, and spring) though students may submit applications for the subsequent disbursement cycle up until the deadline for that term. Submission deadlines and application forms can be found on the Academic Services page. 

Research and educational opportunities

Academic year and summer positions abound in diverse areas such as biomedical science, agriculture, oral history, sustainable food systems, renewable energy, botany, marine ecology, natural history, earth sciences, chemistry, early childhood education, horticulture, and more.

Maine Space Grant Consortium student research fellowships

An award from the Maine Space Grant Consortium provides us with approximately $12,500 annually for students conducting research projects under the supervision of COA faculty.