Juy 7, 2016
10,000 Ojai Road
Santa Paula CA 93060
Contact: Anne Forsyth, Director of College Relations
(805) 525-4417      

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Forbes Ranks Thomas Aquinas College Among “Top Colleges” for  “Return on Investment (ROI)”

SANTA PAULA, CA—July 7—In assembling its annual list of America’s Top Colleges, Forbes magazine distinguishes itself from other guides by its emphasis on the return on investment (ROI) that students get for four (or more) years’ time and tuition payments. “ROI matters most,” the magazine proclaims. Thus it focuses not on selectivity metrics — such as acceptance rates and SAT scores — but on five measures of achievement: student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student debt, graduation rates, and academic success.

Judging by these criteria, Forbes has once again named Thomas Aquinas College to its selective list.

Only about 15 percent of American colleges and universities, 660 in all, are included on the Forbes list, and among those, Thomas Aquinas College ranks within the top half. The business magazine also lists the College among the nation’s top private institutions and the top 50 in the Western United States.

Notably, Thomas Aquinas College’s scores mark a significant rise from Forbes’ 2015 rankings. Its overall national ranking has jumped 30 spots, from No. 281 last year to No. 251 for 2016. Likewise, the College’s rank among private institutions improved from No. 201 to No. 182, and among Western colleges and universities from No. 51 to No. 46.

“When considered with our highly favorable ratings from the Princeton Review, U.S. News,  the National Catholic Register, and the Cardinal Newman Society, the Forbes ranking is encouraging,” says Thomas Aquinas College’s director of admissions, Jon Daly. “The magazine’s favorable assessment of our ‘ROI’ is more evidence that Catholic liberal education succeeds by every measure.”

About Thomas Aquinas College

Thomas Aquinas College has developed a solid reputation for academic excellence in the United States and abroad. At Thomas Aquinas College, there are no majors, no minors, or electives because all students acquire a broad and fully integrated liberal education. The College offers one 4-year, classical curriculum that spans the major arts and sciences. Instead of reading textbooks, students read the original works of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization — the Great Books — in all the major disciplines: mathematics, natural science, literature, philosophy, and theology. Rather than listening to lectures, they engage in rigorous Socratic discussions about these works in classes of 15-18 students. The academic life of the college is conducted under the light of the Catholic faith and flourishes within a close-knit community, supported by a vibrant spiritual life. Genuinely committed to upholding civic virtue and leading lives dedicated to the good of others, Thomas Aquinas College graduates enter a wide array of fields where they are a powerful force for good in the Church and in the culture. Well-versed in rational discourse, they become leaders in education, law, medicine, journalism, public policy, military service, and business. In addition, a steady 10% of alumni go on to the priesthood or religious life.