Princeton Review Honors TAC for “Happiest,” “Most Religious” Students & Great Financial Aid

In the 2024 edition of its annual college guide, The Princeton Review notes that Thomas Aquinas College students are among the “happiest,” “friendliest,” and “most religious” in the United States — and that their school has one of the country’s best financial aid programs.

"We salute Thomas Aquinas College for its outstanding academics and its many other impressive offerings,” says Rob Franek, editor-in-chief and lead author The Princeton Review’s The Best 389 Colleges. “We’re delighted to recommend it as an ideal choice for students searching for their ‘best-fit’ college.”

The Best 389 Colleges integrates data from more than 2,000 institutions with surveys of more than 165,000 students nationwide, featuring only the top 14 percent of America’s four-year institutions. “We recommend each one as academically outstanding,” it notes. “Our ranking lists reflect the opinions of the school’s students — their customers — and their reports to us about their campus experiences.”

In addition to achieving ratings of 91 (out of a possible 99) for academics, 93 for quality of life, and 98 in faculty accessibility, Thomas Aquinas College earned the No. 2 spot nationwide on the Princeton Review’s ranking of the Top 25 Colleges with Great Financial Aid. Among the other high scores that the College received are:

• No. 3 for Happiest Students
• No. 4 for Most Religious Students
• No. 8 for Friendliest Students
• No. 9 for Most Beautiful Campus

In its accompanying profile, the guide quotes extensively from the College’s students. Among their comments:

• “Students have a wide spectrum of terms with which to describe their unique education: ‘difficult, mind blowing, extremely enjoyable, and intensely interesting.’”
• “Students say [tutors] are excellent at facilitating discussions, ‘always accessible outside of their class hours,’ and ‘strong role models and mentors.’”
• “Students say the combination of curriculum and pedagogy allows them to ‘find the truth themselves,’ hone their critical thinking skills, and, by senior year, grasp essential ‘core ideas of the highest nature such as relativity, time, space and being.’”
• “TAC students take pride in the ‘culture of casual kindnesses,’ where everyone ‘is friendly and comfortable with each other’ and is ‘always willing to have a good conversation.’”

“We are grateful that the Princeton Review has, once again, highlighted the quality of our academic program and the warmth of our campus community,” says Chris Weinkopf, Thomas Aquinas College’s executive director of college relations. “Yet especially noteworthy are the high marks it has given for the affordability of this education. Our founders pledged never to turn students away for reasons of financial need. More than 50 years later, our generous benefactors and dedicated Financial Aid officers continue to work hard to honor that pledge.”