TAC Named One of Top 25 Catholic Colleges & Universities in U.S.

“Thomas Aquinas College is probably the most unusual school on this list,” writes Allen Grove, an expert on college admissions in a new article for the ThoughtCo reference website, Top Catholic Colleges and Universities. “The college uses no textbooks; instead, students read the great books of Western civilization,” he notes. “The college has no lectures, but sustained tutorials, seminars and laboratories.”

Yet despite — or, indeed, because of these singular distinctions — TAC makes the list of just 25 colleges and universities nationwide. “Unaffiliated with any specific Catholic order, the school’s spiritual tradition informs its approach to education, community service, and extracurricular activities,” Mr. Grove observes.

In choosing the schools for its list, ThoughtCo considered a range of factors, including “reputation, retention rates, graduation rates, academic quality, value, and curricular innovations.” Notably, the guide did not account for campus spiritual life or Catholic fidelity. Indeed, Thomas Aquinas College is one of only two Newman Guide schools to make the Top 25.

“We are always grateful to receive high rankings from secular publications, including the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report,” says Director of Admissions Jon Daly. “Coupled with the top rankings we also get from faithfully Catholic sources, such as the Cardinal Newman Society and the National Catholic Register, these ratings demonstrate that our program of Catholic liberal education is a success by any measure.”