College of
the Atlantic
Private College in Bar Harbor, ME. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $40,264.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,264 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is a strength: 68% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,050, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.62 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
70% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. With 476 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. 23% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 21% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 660–730 | 16 (21%) |
| SAT Math | 580–700 | |
| ACT Composite | — | 3 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Academics
A 68% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 85% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 13% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 358 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $21,829 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $20,415 while those at $110k+ pay $34,684. Most students get help: 97% receive grants worth $31,212 on average. 53% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 80 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $20,415 |
| $30–48k | $13,942 |
| $48–75k | $16,650 |
| $75–110k | $26,266 |
| $110k+ | $34,684 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 191 of these 358 students, totalling $1,120,824 — an average of $5,868 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hancock County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)