College of the Atlantic

Private · Moderately Selective · ME

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationME · Northeast

SettingRural

Undergrads353

Student:faculty9:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate57.3%

6-yr grad rate68.3%

Drop-out rate15%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$48k

Out-of-state tuition$48k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity31.4%

Gender diversity72.2%

International21.5%

Identity—

Overview

College of the Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, Maine, offers exactly one major, human ecology, a self-designed field that lets each student build an individual course of study spanning the sciences, arts, and policy around the relationship between humans and the environment. The tiny campus sits on Mount Desert Island beside Acadia National Park, and sustainability functions as the organizing premise of the institution rather than a program layered on top.

Academics

Because human ecology is the only major, faculty across disciplines work together on students' individualized plans of study, and students take real ownership of designing their own academic path with close faculty advising rather than following a set of major requirements. The college runs its own organic farm and owns offshore island research stations, giving students direct access to marine biology and field ecology work that would otherwise require an outside program.

Campus & student life

The Bar Harbor setting puts the college immediately next to Acadia National Park, and outdoor life, sustainability practice, and small-scale communal living, including farm work, run through daily campus culture. The extremely small student body means most students know each other, and the college has minimal traditional social infrastructure like Greek life or big-time athletics in favor of its own community traditions.

Getting in

College of the Atlantic looks for students who can articulate genuine interest in an individually designed, interdisciplinary path around ecology, environment, or sustainability, and admissions review is holistic and essay-heavy, with fit to the human ecology model mattering as much as conventional academic credentials.

After graduation

Graduates go on to environmental and conservation careers, graduate programs in ecology and related fields, nonprofit and policy work, and a range of self-directed paths reflecting the individualized nature of the degree; the small, tight alumni network skews heavily toward environmental and sustainability-focused work.

Worth knowing

The single-major, self-designed curriculum is not a marketing device; it is the entire academic model, so students who want a conventional major structure or a large program menu should look elsewhere. The farm and island research stations are genuine hands-on resources, not symbolic ones.

coa.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate70.2%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1240–1430

Test policyoptional

Rec letters2

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionDec 1

Early decisionNov 15

Regular decisionFeb 1

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying