Higher ed leaders name COA among the most innovative liberal arts colleges
In a U.S. News & World Report peer survey, College of the Atlantic ranks #25 in Most Innovative Schools and #69 for Best Undergraduate Teaching.
“College of the Atlantic students shape their own education with mentorship from faculty who are committed to helping them explore and develop their passions” — COA Provost Kourtney Collum, PhD.
College presidents, provosts, and admissions deans across the country have named College of the Atlantic #25 on the U.S. News & World Report 2027 Best Colleges list of Most Innovative Schools among national liberal arts colleges. The same peer survey places COA #69 for Best Undergraduate Teaching.
U.S. News asks these leaders to nominate the colleges in their category that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology, or facilities.
At COA, every student designs their own curricular path within a human ecology framework. They work with faculty whose expertise ranges from field biology and public policy to performance art and history, so their education crosses disciplines the way real-world problems do.
Students also help run the college. They serve on committees for academics, hiring searches, and student life, and they write and vote on policy at the weekly All College Meeting.
“College of the Atlantic students shape their own education with mentorship from faculty who are committed to helping them explore and develop their passions,” said COA Provost Kourtney Collum, PhD. “That environment fuels creativity and innovation.”
On the College of the Atlantic campus, community is the main focus. Campus housing includes full kitchens and living spaces to help students foster lifelong friendships. Houses and other buildings on campus put sustainability first, with composting toilets, solar panels, and mostly fossil fuel-free heating in both residences and administrative buildings. Student-driven policy initiatives (presented and passed through the All College Meeting) like the Sustainable Building Policy and the Energy Policy have moved COA to be the #1 Green College in the nation.
College of the Atlantic is dedicated to the study and practice of human ecology—the interdisciplinary exploration of the relationships between humans and their social, natural, and built environments. Students integrate the arts, sciences, and humanities through a self‑designed concentration grounded in experiential and place‑based learning. Intentionally small, with about 350 students and 35 faculty, COA fosters close collaboration, individualized study, and deep engagement with local and global communities. Founded in 1969 on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the college has been named the #1 Green College by The Princeton Review every year since 2016, reflecting its long‑standing commitment to environmental leadership, creativity, and meaningful change.
U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges rankings provide a data-driven comparison of more than 1,700 colleges and universities using up to 17 measures of academic quality and graduate success.