College of the Atlantic

College of the Atlantic

Type	Private liberal arts college
Established	1969; 56 years ago (1969)
Accreditation	NECHE
Endowment	$46.5 million
President	Sylvia Torti
Undergraduates	377
Postgraduates	3
Location	Bar Harbor , Maine , United States
Campus	Rural
Colors	Blue and Green
Affiliations	Eco League Council of Independent Colleges Annapolis Group
Website	www.coa.edu

College of the Atlantic (COA) is a private liberal arts college in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Founded in 1969, it awards bachelors and masters (M.Phil.) degrees solely in the field of human ecology, an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Focus areas include arts and design, environmental sciences, humanities, international studies, sustainable food systems, teacher certification and educational studies, and socially responsible business. The College of the Atlantic is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.^[1]

The campus consists of 37 acres (15 ha) on Frenchman Bay, two organic farms, two off-shore island research stations, and a 100-acre (40 ha) protected area. The farms, Beech Hill Farm and Peggy Rockefeller Farms, are living laboratories for classes and student research. Peggy Rockefeller Farms includes livestock, crops, orchards. Beech Hill Farm provides produce. Both supply the dining hall with organic produce, eggs, and meat. The off-shore island properties include the Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island where students conduct studies on Leach's storm petrels, guillemots, gulls, sparrows and other fields of natural history. The Edward McCormick Blair Research station on Mount Desert Rock is a center for the study of marine mammals and oceanographic issues.