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

By Sabrina Martin | Bangor Daily News

As small liberal arts colleges around the country grapple with dwindling enrollment and mounting financial pressures, the College of the Atlantic’s new interim president says the Bar Harbor school has a few advantages working in its favor — among them a healthy endowment and innovative programs she says sets the college apart.

Lynn Boulger, who will serve as the school’s interim president for the next two years, will replace current president Sylvia Torti at the end of this academic year. Torti resigned in mid April.

Boulger’s interim presidency coincides with a particularly turbulent time for higher education. Orders from President Donald Trump’s administration, including a block on visas for students from 39 countries, have added new uncertainty to colleges already under financial pressure.

Boulger, who was the school’s dean of institutional advancement for 13 years, will lead the college amid a wave of small liberal art school closures across the county. Most recently, Hampshire College, a small Massachusetts institution that was once COA’s sister school, announced it would permanently shut down after the fall 2026 semester.

Boulger said the Bar Harbor school’s approximately $95 million endowment insulates it from the financial pressures that have forced schools like Hampshire and Wells College to close.