Is COA Right for Me?

The COA Experience

COA is small, interdisciplinary, experiential, and flexible

At College of the Atlantic, we aim to serve students from a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives. Our students come from across the US and around the world, and are united by a desire to be part of a community of creative people who want to make the world better.

COA students typically have strong academic preparation, curiosity and a love of learning, a tendency to seek out intellectual and personal challenges, and an ability to thrive in a self-directed environment. If you’re intrigued by the idea of being part of a small college community with a focus on human ecology, we hope you’ll apply!

Build your curriculum

COA might be right for you if…

You’re curious and self-directed
You love to dig into complex questions
You connect best with dynamic teachers who challenge you to think in new ways
You’re looking for a school that’s also a community
You care not only about what you learn, but how you learn it
You have multiple areas of interest you’d like to study
You see things in the world you’d like to change and believe change is possible

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open viewbook

You want to design your own education

You’re excited by the idea of shaping your academic path, asking big questions, and working across disciplines instead of choosing a traditional major.

You learn best by doing

Fieldwork, research, community engagement, and hands‑on projects energize you more than lecture‑heavy courses.

You care about impact

You’re motivated by environmental, social, creative, or community‑based work, and you want your education to connect to real‑world change.

You value collaboration and community

You want a small, supportive environment where students and faculty work closely together and where your voice matters.

Explore College of the Atlantic

Visiting our campus is the best way to get to know us, but we’d love to talk to from afar as well. On campus, you’ll take a tour, interview with one of our admission counselors, sit in on a class, and eat in our dining hall to see if our community feels right. Online, we’ll do our best to help you understand COA and whether we might be a good fit for each other.

Plan your visit

Schedule an Online Interview

Stories from the Field

COA collaborators help launch podcast series on women adapting to change along Maine’s working waterfront

The latest season of the Island Institute’s From the Sea Up features research and storytelling by COA students and faculty. Read More

Lamb-ageddon! Crowd goes wild as baby sheep frolic on the field

COA Peggy Rockefeller Farm’s Leaping into Spring event is a sweet tradition that signals the turning of the season on Mount Desert Island. Via Bar Harbor Story. Read More

Endowment and innovation keep Bar Harbor college viable, new interim leader says

Incoming interim president Lynn Boulger highlights the $95 million endowment and unique academic focus keeping COA secure, via Bangor Daily News. Read More