Transfer Students

College of the Atlantic

A place to shape your own education

Transfer students comprise about 20% of COA’s student body. Students transfer to COA from a wide range of other schools, including traditional liberal arts colleges, community colleges, Ivies, and state universities. We find that transfer students are often particularly well prepared for the kind of self-directed education you’ll find at COA.

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Transfer students can start at COA during the fall, winter, or spring trimesters. Be sure to make note of the application deadlines for each term. If you’re transferring to COA from a Maine community college, you can apply as part of the Maine Transfer Guarantee!

Hampshire College students

We are deeply saddened by the news of Hampshire’s closure and we are here to help however we can. To help ease uncertainty during this difficult time and support a smooth transition for Hampshire students, we have simplified our admission process.

We are accepting applications for the fall via rolling admission.
We will match the net cost of your Hampshire financial aid package. To receive a financial aid package, you will need to add COA to your FAFSA and send us your Hampshire financial aid offer.
Current Hampshire students can apply with an abbreviated/simplified application form. There is one essay question with the prompt: “Tell us why you believe COA will be a good place for you to finish your degree.”
The only other material we need is your transcript—no recommendations are required.
Hampshire students may transfer up to three years worth of college work to COA. Keep in mind, you do not have to transfer in all of your eligible credits if you would like to be at COA longer.

Transfer FAQs

Transfer students may apply using the Common Application or the COA application (for Maine Transfer Guarantee or Northland Students only). Transfer applicants should submit official transcripts from all academic work, including high school (secondary school) and college. The transfer student essay asks you to describe why you’ve decided to transfer, and our supplemental questions (described on the Apply page) are a good place to tell us more about why you think COA is a good fit for you.

After you enroll at COA, you’ll meet with the registrar to formally request that your previous credits be applied to your COA education. We also strongly encourage transfer applicants to meet with the director of financial aid prior to making a commitment to COA. Contact the admission office if you have questions.

You may transfer up to two years worth of college work, the equivalent of 18 COA credits (half the number of credits you need to graduate). Keep in mind, you do not have to transfer in all of your eligible credits if you would like to be at COA longer.

The COA registrar performs preliminary transcript evaluations for prospective transfer students to help you determine how many credits will transfer. Reach out to the admission office (inquiry@coa.edu) and we can arrange to have your transcript evaluated. Important to note: COA has a different credit system than semester-based schools. At COA, one course is one credit, and you need 36 COA credits to graduate. In order to translate your transcript into COA credits, COA will accept credits as follows for all courses in which you received a letter grade of C or better:

If you are transferring credit from an institution that uses the semester system, or credit hours, multiply your current credit hours by 0.3 to determine the likely number of COA credits you will have.
If you are transferring credit from an institution that uses a trimester or quarter system, or quarter credits, multiply your current quarter credits by 0.2 to determine the number of COA credits.

We will accept up to two years of college credits (18 COA credits), in classes you have passed. Credits are only accepted from regionally accredited institutions.

This answer will be different for every transfer student. If you transfer more than 9 COA credits, certain requirements, such as writing, quantitative reasoning, and history, may be waived. Even if some requirements are waived, you will need to take at least one class in each resource area (human studies, arts & design, and environmental science). Every transfer student will also need to complete a writing portfolio, internship, Human Ecology Essay, and Senior Project. To learn more, you can read about our degree requirements.

Transfer students receive the same financial aid packages as they would receive if they had come to COA as first-year students. We review each transfer applicant for merit aid eligibility (including our $15,000/year community college scholarship), and then the financial aid office uses your financial aid application to determine your additional need-based financial aid. Learn more about the financial aid application process and COA scholarships.