College of the Atlantic

College of the Atlantic (www.coa.edu) sits by the ocean on Mount Desert Island, Maine, with students and faculty numbering less than four hundred. Disciplinary silos are foreign, since all students learn the College’s interdisciplinary approach to experiencing and solving complex problems through its one major, human ecology. COA’s intimate community also beholds a monumental accomplishment: the first carbon neutral college in the world. As a founding member of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, COA helped spark a global movement for sustainability in higher education. And through programs like the Sustainable Enterprise Hatchery, students can experience the high wire of social entrepreneurship with a net: an incubator that gives students access to funding, office space, and support for up to 9 months after graduation (http://coa.edu/sustainable-business.htm).