College of the Atlantic (COA) has been recognized among the nation's most innovative liberal arts colleges, according to a U.S. News & World Report peer survey. The Mount Desert Island institution was named #25 in Most Innovative Schools and #69 for Best Undergraduate Teaching on the U.S. News & World Report 2027 Best Colleges list.
This national distinction comes from college presidents, provosts, and admissions deans across the country who participate in the U.S. News & World Report survey. These leaders are asked to nominate colleges within their category that are making the most innovative improvements across areas such as curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology, or facilities.
At COA, every student crafts their own educational path within a framework known as human ecology. Faculty mentorship guides students, with expertise spanning fields from field biology and public policy to performance art and history, ensuring an interdisciplinary education that mirrors real-world challenges.
Students also play an active role in the college's governance. They serve on committees dedicated to academics, hiring searches, and student life, and they contribute to policy formation by writing and voting on initiatives during the weekly All College Meeting.
COA Provost Kourtney Collum, PhD, noted that, at COA, "students shape their own education with mentorship from faculty." Dr. Collum added that this environment fuels creativity and innovation.
A strong sense of community defines the COA campus. Student housing includes full kitchens and living spaces, designed to foster lifelong friendships among residents. Campus buildings, both residences and administrative offices, prioritize sustainability, featuring composting toilets, solar panels, and heating systems that are mostly fossil fuel-free. Student-driven policy initiatives, such as the Sustainable Building Policy and the Energy Policy, have been presented and passed through the All College Meeting, contributing to COA's distinction as the #1 Green College in the nation.
College of the Atlantic is dedicated to human ecology, an interdisciplinary field exploring the connections between humans and their social, natural, and built environments. This approach allows students to integrate the arts, sciences, and humanities, developing a self-designed concentration rooted in experiential and place-based learning. Intentionally small, with approximately 350 students and 35 faculty, COA cultivates close collaboration, individualized study, and deep engagement with both local and global communities.
Founded in 1969 on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the college has also consistently been named the #1 Green College by The Princeton Review every year since 2016, a testament to its long-standing commitment to environmental leadership, creativity, and meaningful change. The U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges rankings provide a data-driven comparison of over 1,700 colleges and universities using up to 17 measures of academic quality and graduate success.
