Photo taken during a North Woods Ways expedition. COA acquired North Woods Way in 2022 from Alexandra Conover Bennett '77 and Garrett Conover '78 with help from the Rossi Foundation.
“The support of our local community has always been essential to COA’s success,” says COA Dean of Advancement Shawn Keeley ’00. “As an intentionally small learning community of 350 students, every single gift truly makes a difference. We really hope everyone who values the college will consider being a part of this day.”
All contributions to the 24-Hour Challenge benefit the College of the Atlantic Annual Fund, which supports scholarships, financial aid, field-based coursework, and upgrades to campus facilities. In 2022, a total of 630 donors helped raise a total of nearly $200,000. Keeley said he hopes to get even more people to support the challenge this year.
More than 80 percent of COA students receive some form of financial aid, which the 24-Hour Challenge helps make possible. The school offers merit scholarships as well as need-based aid, with the goal of making COA affordable for all students, regardless of income. COA is consistently ranked among the top schools in the nation for financial aid.
College of the Atlantic is the first college in the US to focus on the relationship between humans and the environment. The intentionally small school of 350 students and 35 faculty members offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in human ecology—the study of how humans interact with our natural, social, and built environments. Each student develops their own course of study, collaborating and innovating across multiple disciplines. COA is Princeton Review’s #1 Green College 2016-2022.