Choose from the Questions Below

The easiest way to receive a preliminary estimate of financial aid is to use our Financial Aid Calculator.

An applicant for admission may also request a preliminary estimate of financial aid by submitting the FAFSA and a Confidential Financial Aid Application. See How to Apply for Financial Aid for an explanation of how to complete and submit these forms. Although financial aid cannot be awarded formally until the student has received notification of his admission to the College, he may submit the financial aid forms any time prior to his admission with a request for an estimate of the aid that might be offered to him.

Financial aid information remains confidential and is kept separate from a student's application for admission. Admission decisions are need-blind, that is, they are made without consideration of a student's or his parents' ability to pay.

For an incoming freshman, financial aid is determined soon after he has received notification of his admission to the College and after his financial aid application is complete. For continuing students, financial aid is normally awarded in June for the upcoming academic year.

To ensure coordination with the College's budget, the financial aid award is deemed final when the student accepts it. In exceptional cases when a student's financial circumstances change substantially and unexpectedly, the Financial Aid Office will reconsider the student's financial aid in response to a request.

If a student and his parents believe additional financial aid is necessary, or if the family's circumstances change substantially during the school year, the family can request additional assistance, specifying exactly how much additional aid is needed. In reviewing such a request, the College may require additional financial information from the family. The College reserves full discretion in determining what constitutes "demonstrated financial need" in any particular case.

No. Since the financial circumstances of students and their families may change from year to year, applications for financial aid and all relevant documents must be resubmitted annually. Financial aid is then awarded in light of the most current information about each family's resources.

Yes. The school's financial aid resources are extended to all qualified students whether or not they are U.S. citizens. Students must present a Student Visa (the Admissions Office helps in obtaining this after acceptance) since this is needed to participate in the College’s work-study program.

It depends. Institutional aid (aid from the College) is awarded on the basis of need. Eligibility for institutional aid is determined by the following equation:

  • Cost of tuition and housing & food
  • Outside resources (grants, scholarships, etc.)
  • Parents' calculated payment expectation
  • Student's calculated payment expectation
  • Student loan expectation

Eligibility for Institutional Aid

Scenario #1:
Let's assume for the moment that the parents' financial information (income, assets, and special circumstances) remains unchanged from one year to the next. If a student is eligible for institutional aid when his parents have one child in attendance, in subsequent years, when two children are in attendance, the parents' payment expectation would be divided between the two children and the combined parent payment would be roughly the same as in the prior year.

In the scenario given above, there will be some increase in the overall parent payment when two are in college because there is one less person at home to house and feed and, as a consequence, the family's "income protection allowance" goes down slightly, causing the parents' payment expectation to go up somewhat; but that revised payment expectation is then divided between the two children in college.

Scenario #2:
On the other hand, if a student is not eligible for institutional aid when his parents have one child in attendance, it is possible that his parents will pay up to twice as much when two children are in attendance. It is all a function of how large the parents' calculated payment resources are.

Whenever the College has found it necessary to increase tuition and housing & food charges, the funds allocated for financial aid have been increased, as required, to meet financial need. This practice ensures that no qualified student will be turned away or will be unable to continue his studies because of insufficient financial means.

Yes. A significant percentage of each freshman class is composed of students who have attended other colleges or universities previously. The College evaluates their requests for assistance in the same way as it does for students beginning college studies for the first time.

Thomas Aquinas College does not provide merit-based scholarships. All financial aid given by the College goes to students who have demonstrated financial need.

The special character of our classroom method — where no distinction is made among students except by what each brings to bear in conversations and careful reading of texts — makes it inappropriate for the College to introduce a two-tiered classification of students in which some are formally distinguished in ability and therefore, inevitably, in authority. The teaching faculty of the College strongly believes such a distinction would be damaging to a free and fruitful flow of ideas where the only authority among participants is reasonable argument. Over the years, the College has seen many students become classroom leaders who would not have merited scholarships before beginning at Thomas Aquinas College. This development of students is something the College prizes and safeguards. At the same time, it may be noted that many of our students each year qualify for "outside" academic awards that are then used to pay tuition at Thomas Aquinas College.

Thomas Aquinas College students receive financial assistance from many sources, including high school, business, local service club scholarships and National Merit Scholarships. Veterans Administration benefits are also available to qualified students.

The Financial Aid Office maintains current information about internet resources which can be used to locate grants, scholarships, and other kinds of financial aid from outside agencies. This information is available upon request. For a list of no-fee scholarship searches, see Types of Financial Aid Available.

To be eligible for a Pell Grant, Cal Grant, federal Direct Student Loan, or a federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan, a student must maintain certain minimum statutory and regulatory requirements with regard to satisfactory academic progress (SAP). The SAP policy (PDF) of Thomas Aquinas College meets or exceeds the regulatory and statutory requirements specified by the aforementioned programs. As long as a student satisfies the College's SAP policy he will remain eligible for financial aid from these programs if he satisfies the other non-academic eligibility criteria.

If a student withdraws on or after Convocation Day, tuition and housing & food will be prorated on a per diem basis through the day of withdrawal, excluding breaks of five days or more. Freshmen will always be charged at least the amount of their nonrefundable deposit.

For an explanation of how financial aid funds are applied, please see the College's Refund Policy (PDF). If a student wishes to withdraw from the program, he should speak with the Dean and complete a Notification of Withdrawal form. If the student is receiving financial aid, he must also speak with the Director of Financial Aid to take care of any necessary paperwork.

Yes, there are various tax credits and tax deductions available to you that can make education more affordable and significantly reduce the amount of federal income tax you may owe. These tax incentives include: American Opportunity Education Tax Credit, Lifetime Learning Tuition Credit, Student Loan Interest Deduction (including interest on parent loans taken to pay for qualified expenses), Coverdell Education Savings Account (formerly Education IRA), Qualified Tuition Programs, Early Withdrawals from IRAs, Education Savings Bond Program.

The links below provide helpful explanations of these various tax incentives: