August 3, 2017
10,000 Ojai Road
Santa Paula CA 93060
Contact: Anne Forsyth, Director of College Relations
(805) 525-4417
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High Ratings also for Academics and Quality of Life

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SANTA PAULA, CA—August 3—Thomas Aquinas College provides one of the best undergraduate educations in the country, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the College in the 2018 edition of its newly released annual guide, The Best 382 Colleges. Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the publication, The Princeton Review’s flagship college guide.

In a system in which 99 is the best possible score, Thomas Aquinas College received a 95 for academics, a 94 for quality of life, and a 99 for financial aid.

“We chose Thomas Aquinas College for this book because it offers outstanding academics,” says Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief and author of The Best 382 Colleges. Thomas Aquinas College is one of only three Catholic schools recommended by the Cardinal Newman Society to make the “Best Colleges” list. 

In addition, Thomas Aquinas College is ranked No. 6 of 10 on The Princeton Review’s “Financial Aid Honor Roll,” the only Catholic college in the country to have made that list. Commenting on this ranking, CNBC says, “This small Catholic school is doing big things to combat student debt. To bridge the gap between what students are able to pay and the actual cost of their education, there's a substantial financial aid program, comprised of loans, work-study and grants, which is fully funded by contributions from private individuals and charitable foundations.”

Says Vice President for Development, Dr. Paul O’Reilly, “The college does not accept federal aid; the funds we provide our students who need assistance come from private benefactors. Our financial aid policy is not to give money away, but to require maximum effort from parents, on-campus work by students, and loans capped at $18,000 over four years. To meet remaining need, we ask our donors to make an investment in our students. They get a great return on that investment in the service our graduates go on to give the Church and the country.”

More than 10 percent of Thomas Aquinas College alumni enter the priesthood and religious life, another 35 percent are teaching in classrooms from kindergarten through graduate school, and many more are pursuing careers as varied as law, medicine, business, journalism, public policy, and military service.

“Moreover,” adds Dr. O’Reilly, according to a U. S. News & World Report survey, our graduates give back to their alma mater at a rate of 60 percent or more, a rate four times higher than the average giving rate and second only to Princeton’s graduates. This is a sign of widespread loyalty and gratitude for what they have received.”

Thomas Aquinas College is also ranked in the “Top 20” on a number of The Princeton Review’s 62 lists of categories that range from students’ assessments of their professors to opinions about campus food. Among others, the college ranks No. 1 in the country for having the “Most Religious Students,” No. 8 for “Best Classroom Experience,” and No. 15 for “Lots of Race/Class Interaction.”

Commenting on the new rankings, admissions director, Mr. Jon Daly says, “We are pleased that, once again, The Princeton Review has featured Thomas Aquinas College in its annual guide. Of particular note, in addition to the perfect rating we received for our financial aid program, are the high scores we received for our academic program and for our students’ ‘quality of life.’ Our goal has always been to provide the best education at the most affordable price, and The Princeton Review profile offers some strong evidence that we are succeeding.”

About Thomas Aquinas College

A four-year, co-educational institution, Thomas Aquinas College has developed over the past 46 years a solid reputation for academic excellence in the United States and abroad and is highly ranked by organizations such as The Princeton Review, U. S. News, and Kiplinger. At Thomas Aquinas College all students acquire a broad and fully integrated liberal education. The College offers one, four-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. 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. Graduates consistently excel in the many world-class institutions at which they pursue graduate degrees in fields such as law, medicine, business, theology and education. They have distinguished themselves serving as lawyers, doctors, business owners, priests, military service men and women, educators, journalists and college presidents. For additional information, visit www.thomasaquinas.edu.