Thomas Aquinas College
10000 N Ojai Rd, Santa Paula, CA 93060
School Description
Provided by Thomas Aquinas CollegeThomas Aquinas College has a single mission: the liberal education of students according to their natural powers of reason illuminated by the light of the Catholic Faith. This mission is the end by which all means are judged – from customs of community life to curricular decisions and faculty appointments, to building design and forms of governance. +++
To accomplish its mission, the College has a single, substantially unvarying program with no majors, minors, or electives. It consists in an integrated and orderly study of the liberal arts and sciences, beginning with the fundamental arts of the trivium and quadrivium, proceeding through the natural and political sciences, and culminating in theology. The College achieves its mission chiefly through reflective consideration of seminal questions raised in classical texts. These texts – often referred to as the “Great Books” – are selected by the faculty under the guidance of the Catholic tradition. In accordance with this tradition, the works of St. Thomas Aquinas occupy a preeminent position in the College’s curriculum. +++
Classes are seminars and tutorials: groups of fifteen to twenty students discussing the readings under the guidance of a faculty member. A laboratory program provides students laboratory experience in addition to the reading of primary texts. Tutorials, seminars, and laboratories are complemented by a lecture and concert series. This offers students an opportunity to witness and discuss the scholarly and artistic works of the wider community. +++
The College’s educational principles and curriculum arise from an intellectual tradition which does not fluctuate with the vicissitudes of time, founded as it is in a perennial wisdom by which the truth and merit of new insights and discoveries may be best understood. The College aims to sustain the natural wonder of students, to develop their intellectual virtues, and to help them satisfy their desire to know things noble and worth knowing.
Thomas Aquinas College
From Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaThomas Aquinas College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college offering a single integrated academic program. It is located in Santa Paula, California north of Los Angeles. It offers a unique education with courses based on the Great Books and seminar method. It has school accreditation from the American Academy for Liberal Education, a national accrediting agency, and Western Association of Schools and Colleges, a regional accrediting board for California and Guam.
Academics
Thomas Aquinas offers one degree program: Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts. The coursework is the same for all students throughout the program. Classes are small and all members are required to contribute. Courses are in seminar format with professors—called tutors—leading the discussions in subjects ranging from grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, science, and philosophy. All subjects are connected through the overarching study of Catholic theology.
Currently the school does not accept state or church funding. They do offer academic and needs based scholarships funded by private donation.
Curriculum
Thomas Aquinas is based on an integrated liberal arts curriculum made up primarily of the Great Books of the Western Tradition. Studies are divided throughout the 4-year program into the Trivium (Freshman & Sophomore years) and the Quadrivium (Junior & Senior years). The Trivium study encompasses the subjects of Logic, Rhetoric and Grammar while the Quadrivium encompasses the study of Geometry, Astronomy, Arithmetic, Music.
The college rejects the use of textbooks in favor of going directly to the original source. Thomas Aquinas College acknowledges that not all texts in their program are of equal weight. They regard some as masterworks and others as sources of opinions that "either lead students to the truth, or make the truth more evident by opposition to it." Students read some texts in their entirety and only excerpts from others. Thomas Aquinas lists all books used in their curriculum on their official website.
Quick Facts
- Location:
- Southwest
- Setting:
- Rural Setting
- Type:
- Private
- Affiliation:
- Roman Catholic
- Size:
- Small (Under 2,000 Undergrad)
Students & Campus Life
- Undergraduate Enrollment:
- 332
- On Campus Housing:
- Available
- Full Time Students:
- 100%
- Athletic Programs:
- Unavailable
Degree Programs at Thomas Aquinas College
Bachelor's Level Programs
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Arts & Humanities
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General Studies
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General Studies
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Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
A program that is a structured combination of the arts, biological and physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities, emphasizing breadth of study. Includes instruction in independently designed, individualized, or regular programs.See more schools with programs in Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
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Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
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General Studies
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General Studies
Students
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| Percent of Students International: | 6% |
Housing
| On-Campus Housing Available: | Yes |
| Percent of Students Living On-Campus: | 111% |
| Freshman Students Required to Live on Campus: | No |
| Tuition & Fees (undergraduate) | Expenses | ||
Average Tuition for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 18,600 | ||
| Financial Aid | Avg. Amount Received | % of Students Receiving Aid | |
Federal Grants: |
$ 2,532 | 24% | |
State and Local Grants: |
$ 5,978 | 24% | |
Institutional Grants: |
$ 8,377 | 44% | |
Student Loans: |
$ 2,739 | 65% | |
Any Aid: |
71% |
Selectivity (Undergraduate Only)
| Acceptance Rate: | 82% (Selective) |
| Test Scores | |
| SAT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting SAT Scores: | 94% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Verbal: 628, Math: 570 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Verbal: 740, Math: 653 |
| ACT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting ACT Scores: | 8% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Composite: 24, Verbal: 25, Math: 24 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Composite: 29, Verbal: 31, Math: 31 |
Application Requirements (Undergraduate Only)
| Formal Demonstration of Competencies: | Required |
| High School Diploma or Equivalent: | Recommended |
| High School GPA: | Not Required |
| High School Rank: | Not Required |
| High School Record: | Required |
| Recommendations: | Required |
| TOEFL: | Required |
| Test Scores: | Required |
