Variety and choice at America's Environmental College

Unity College, America's Environmental College, is in the middle of everywhere, making it ideal for experiential, hands-on learning in sustainability science. 

Students choose from 17 environmentally focused majors such as Conservation Law Enforcement, Environmental Pre-Law, Captive Wildlife Care, Sustainable Business Enterprise, and Adventure Therapy. The 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio affords exemplary attention and support. Undergraduates do real field research, go to professional conferences, participate in publications, and do career-focused internships that help them get and keep jobs. In a recent graduate survey, more than 92 percent of Unity graduates reported they were working full-time or attending graduate school.

Unity College offers an online Master's in Professional Science degree with concentrations in Environmental GIScience, Sustainability Science, Sustainable Natural Resource Management, and Conservation Law Enforcement. Unity College also offers a Sustainable Master of Business Administration.

Beyond Unity's pastoral 225-acre campus of fields, farms and research facilities, students explore amazing places within a two-hour drive such as Acadia National Park, the East Coast's only national park; Baxter State Park, with Mt. Katahdin, Maine's highest peak; and dozens more in America's vacationland.

In 2012, the Unity College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to become America's first institution of higher learning to divest its endowment from the top 200 fossil fuel companies, making Unity the standard-bearer for a growing national movement.

Learners with community spirit

Unity is a tight-knit community of learners who value community spirit, and students become environmental leaders partly through on-campus living choices. With 71 percent living on-campus, most students choose to live in one of nine residence halls, including standard dorm room, suite style, or cottage living Clifford Hall and Unity 2, completed in 2013 and 2014, meet LEED Silver standards for energy efficiency. Another brand-new energy efficient residence hall, which opened in 2016, is geared to first-year students, with space for 74 new beds. All bathrooms and showers will be private, and it will have several social lounges as well as dedicated study areas for students to study outside their rooms in a quiet setting.

A new academic building was also completed in the summer of 2016. The building contains two new classrooms: one having 24 seats and the other having 48 seats. This building is also the new home of the Collaborative Learning Center, offering peer tutoring, academic workshops and other resources. This new space will make the Collaborative Learning Center easier to find and accessible to all of our students. 

Originally the first college dormitory in the US designed to meet the Passive House standard, the highest standard of energy efficiency, TerraHaus is now a highly visible clearinghouse for student success as a living energy lab and home to the college's Student Affairs department and Student Government Association.

Unity's renovated dining halls offer a variety of nutritious, delicious meals using many locally sourced ingredients for all types of dietary needs. Wyman Commons serves homemade all-you-care-to-eat meals: breakfast all day, custom stir-fry at the Mongolian Grill, soups and salads, sandwiches and comfort foods. The Student Center offers made-to-order specials in a cozy lodge atmosphere. 

Students participate in a variety of varsity, club, and intramural sports, many not offered at schools twice the size. Varsity teams include men's and women's cross-country, soccer, and basketball, and women's volleyball. 

The Student Activities Center is a vibrant hub of campus life and houses Tozier Gymnasium, which contains the Willard Rock Wall, a High Ropes Course, and is home to Unity College Rams sports. All-new exercise equipment was installed in the Fitness Center in 2014. 

Built in 2008, Unity House is LEED* Platinum certified, creating as much energy as it uses over the course of a year, with solar panels on the roof providing excess energy to the electrical grid. Originally the presidential residence, Unity House has been converted into an academic and events space. A proving ground for research and development of viable green prototypes, Unity House has also served as a model for a line of homes now available commercially.

Resources and support

Koons Hall and Thomashow Learning Labs form the college's science hub, with four prep labs, a dry lab with live animals for teaching animal handling and husbandry, and a clean lab introduced in 2013 for high-end research fields such as genetics. The Salmon Room houses a spectrometer and fluorescent microscopes. A new geology lab was added in 2013. 

Gifted to Unity College in 2014 in recognition of its leadership in sustainable agriculture education, the McKay Farm in Thorndike is a working greenhouse that lets students get their hands dirty creating healthful food in ways that protect natural resources, promote community, alleviate hunger and provide forward-thinking models for feeding a growing population on a finite planet. Not only is it a commercial venture where students get experience learning agricultural management skills, it also supplies local and campus markets with flowers for campus and community events and winter greens donated to food pantries and eaten in the dining hall year-round.

Founders Hall South is home to art and ceramics studios, classrooms, faculty offices, the college bookstore, and the Sustainability Office, where staff plan to make the Unity campus as green as can be.

The Dorothy Webb Quimby Library houses a collection of more than 50,000 volumes and subscribes to more than 400 scholarly and general interest periodicals. Students make use of the computer lab and a GIS media lab with "plotter printer" connectivity. The library is heated with a wood pellet system and the roof boasts 144 solar panels that feed energy into the power grid.

The Burwell Building houses the Outdoor Adventure Center, Community-Based Learning Programs, Career Services Center and Experiential Programs Office. All students take part in the signature Nova outdoor experience, and also drop by to borrow canoes, kayaks, skis, snowshoes, tents, and bikes for enjoyment, recreation, education and leisure.

Student health and wellness

Student health is fully supported at the on-campus Harrison Aldrich Wellness Center, with counseling, health care delivery, and wellness education in a walk-in clinic. 

Student-built Unity College Barn houses college-owned livestock including San Clemente goats, Delaware chickens, Katahdin sheep, and silver fox rabbits. Introduction of new animals allows students to learn animal care, breeding, and husbandry, equipping them for work in pre-veterinary and other animal-related fields.

Clubs and fun

Students spend an abundance of time outdoors. They study and read at the Unity Rocks outdoor theatre. Forests fringe the campus and are used by clubs and classes. The first leg of the 47-mile Hills to Sea Trail connects village and campus to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association fairgrounds. Nearby, Unity Pond beckons for a cooling swim.

Social, cultural, and educational clubs at Unity include the archery club, which enjoys a regulation indoor archery range; the sugar-makers club, which makes authentic Maine maple syrup every spring; and many more. 

Club sports allow students to compete in leagues that garner regional attention, foster teamwork and promote good health and sportsmanship, including ice hockey,  rock climbing, ultimate Frisbee, and the woodsmen's team, which honors Maine's forest heritage and has a long, proud tradition at Unity.

Located in town and built from a 100-year-old barn with attached farmhouse, the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts is a vibrant cultural and arts center that offers music, film, art, lectures, and more to the campus and wider communities. The venue includes an intimate 200-seat theater, classroom space, meeting rooms, and the Leonard R. Craig Gallery, featuring artists in a variety of media.

• Agriculture
• Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Biological/life sciences
• Environmental Biology
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Wildlife Biology
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Business/marketing
• Business Administration and Management
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Business Administration, Management and Operations Related
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Communication/Journalism
• Communication and Media Related
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Education
• Secondary Education
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Engineering technologies
• Energy Management and Systems Technology
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Health professions and related sciences
• Therapeutic Recreation
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Liberal arts/general studies
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
  Associate Degree offered for this major.
• Natural resources/environmental science
• Environmental Science
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Parks and recreation
• Outdoor Education
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.
• Visual and performing arts
• Fine/Studio Arts
  Bachelor's Degree offered for this major.

• Acceptance Rate
• Applied915
• Accepted812
• Acceptance Rate88%
• Enrolled704
• Female Applicants542
• Females Accepted489
• Female Acceptance Rate90%
• Male Applicants373
• Males Accepted323
• Male Acceptance Rate86%
• Applying
• Application Fee $0
• Required for All Essay or personal statement
  Transcript of high school record
  
• Required for Some Interview
  
• Average high school GPA for first-year freshman3.30
• Application Deadlines
• Type Application Closing Notification Date Rolling Admissions
• Fall freshmen Yes
• Out-of-state Fall freshmen Yes
• Early decision plan Not Reported
• Other early decision plan Not Reported
• Transfer Yes
• Test Scores Accepted
• Test Average School Accepted 25th Percentile* 75th Percentile*
• * 25th and 75th percentile is the score that 25/75 percent of students score at or below.

• Tuition
• In-state tuition *$27,150
• Out-of-state tuition *$27,150
• In-district tuitionN/A
• * Tuition costs are based on a full academic year typically extending from September to June.
• Fees
• Full-time student fees$1,200
• Room and board *$10,400
• Room only *Not Reported
• * Room and board charges vary according to board plan selected (i.e., 12-meal plan, 19-meal plan, etc.) and student level (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
• Other Payment Considerations
• Guaranteed tuition plan offeredNo
• Tuition pre-payment planNo
• Tuition payment plans offeredInstallments
• Student groups that qualify for full or partial waiver of tuitionEmployees or children of employees

• Average Financial Aid Package:$20,247
• Average Freshman Financial Aid Package:$21,209
• Average International Student Financial Aid Package:$13,185
• Average Loan Aid:$6,595
• Average Grant Aid:$9,346
• Average Scholarship and/or Grant Aid Awarded:$13,707
• Percentage of Students with Need who Receive Financial Aid:100%
• Average Percentage of Financial Need Met: 72%
• Percentage of Students Who Had Their Need Fully Met: 12%

• Gender
• Total Undergraduate Students704
• Male Student Percentage49%
• Female Student Percentage51%
• Race/Ethnicity
• Hispanic/Latino1.14%
• Black or African American.71%
• White or Caucasian85.86%
• American Indian or Alaska Native1.86%
• Asian.86%
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific IslanderNot Reported
• Two or more races3.14%
• Unknown or International Student6.43%
• Other Student Statistics
• International BreakoutNot Reported
• Out-of-state Students74% out-of-state student

• Housing
• College-owned housing available Yes
• Housing Requirements None
• Housing options Coed housing , Female-only housing, Special housing for disabled, Male-only housing, Cooperative housing
• Percentage of undergraduate students who live in college-owned housing 70%
• Student Activities
• Student-run campus newspaper No
• Drama / theater group Yes
• Student-run radio station No
• Student-run television station No
• Marching band No
• Choral groups Yes
• Student Services
• Legal services No
• Health clinic Yes
• Personal / psychological counseling Yes
• Women's center No
• Student Organizations
• Greek fraternities No
• Greek sororities No
• Local fraternities No
• Local sororities No
• Other organizations Not Reported
• Most popular organizations Woodsmen Team, Ultimate Frisbee, Outing Club
• Campus Security and Safety
• 24-hour emergency telephone / alarm services Yes
• 24-hour patrols by trained officers Yes
• Students patrols Not Reported
• Late-night transport / escort services Not Reported
• Electronically-operated dormitory entrances Not Reported
• Other security cameras in certain areas

• Men's Sports
• Sport Intramural Intercollegiate Scholarship
• Baseball Yes No No
• Basketball Yes Yes No
• Cross-country running Yes Yes No
• Golf Yes No No
• Ice hockey Yes No No
• Soccer No Yes No
• Softball Yes No No
• Table Tennis Yes No No
• Tennis Yes No No
• Ultimate Frisbee Yes No No
• Volleyball Yes No No
• Weight Lifting Yes No No
• Women's Sports
• Sport Intramural Intercollegiate Scholarship
• Baseball No No No
• Basketball Yes Yes No
• Cross-country running Yes Yes No
• Golf Yes No No
• Ice hockey Yes No No
• Soccer Yes Yes No
• Softball Yes No No
• Table Tennis Yes No No
• Tennis Yes No No
• Ultimate Frisbee Yes No No
• Volleyball Yes Yes No
• Weight Lifting Yes No No