Accreditation
Thomas Aquinas College is accredited by the American Academy
for Liberal Education and by the Western Association of Schools
and Colleges. AALE is a national accreditation board; WASC
is the regional accreditation board for California and Guam.
To get in touch with these national and regional accrediting
associations, please see the contact information
at the bottom of this page.
Comments about Thomas Aquinas College from the 1996 AALE
and from the 1993 WASC accrediting commissions are available
below.
Institutional Integrity, Mission, and Objectives
Thomas Aquinas College is an institution that has faithfully
pursued, articulated and defended a single, well-defined mission
throughout its 25 years of existence. That mission is stated
well in its Self-Study: to provide for the "liberal education
of students according to the natural powers of reason and
by the light of the Catholic Faith."
-- American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE)
In that the founding principles of the Proposal [for the
Fulfillment of Catholic Liberal Education] still define the
College's philosophy of Catholic liberal education, Thomas Aquinas
maintains distinctive institutional goals and articulates them
clearly to the campus community. Throughout the visit, the team
was impressed by how well the College has sustained discussion
and renewal of the Proposal--this dialogue cultivates a deep
understanding of and strong dedication to institutional purpose
among all members of the campus community.
-- Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(WASC)
The Team wishes to commend Thomas Aquinas College for
its thoughtful actions in conformity with its mission. Few
institutions in American higher education understand themselves
so well, communicate that understanding to its various publics
so effectively, decide every curricular question and student
issue so self-consciously in light of that understanding,
or manage to build a true sense of campus community based
on that understanding so successfully.
-- AALE
The team urges the College to play a more active role
in the higher education community by commenting on a wider
range of issues. In light of its unique academic mission and
pedagogical style, Thomas Aquinas has much to contribute to
the discussions pertaining to higher education with other
WASC accredited colleges and universities.
-- WASC
Curricula Development, Educational Program
The whole curriculum of the College, which is definitively
outlined in the Bulletin of Information, forms "one general
requirement." Tutors and students assert that the object
of study is the pursuit of truth. Since the College regards
the texts as authoritative, it does not regard the tutors
as authorities or experts. Thus, the College offers a distinct
model of education in which tutors and students participate
equally as learners. In classes, the team was impressed by
how well the College transforms its theory into practice.
-- WASC
The success of the result reflects on the correctness
of the means. From observing student participation in the
seminars and tutorials and engaging students in conversation
on campus, it is clear that the educational enterprise of
Thomas Aquinas College has been eminently successful. The
students are mature, articulate, educated--i.e., well-grounded
in the Great Books--and committed to the virtues of reasoned
discourse and the search for truth. To paraphrase the words
of one writer, they have learned to love the truth and to
recognize it when discovered. But the success of the Thomas
Aquinas education is also evident from the large number of
its graduates who go on to acquire PhDs or become physicians
and attorneys--proof that they have acquired the proper habits
of mind and that they can move easily into the world of commerce,
an incidental but useful by-product of their education.
-- AALE
For the most part, the team found the Thomas Aquinas
students enormously engaging, remarkably focused, evidently
pious, and uncommonly serious about their studies. The unanimity
of purpose and the cohesion among the students were among
the most powerful observed by team members anywhere. At focus
meetings, the affection and respect for the College and their
commitment to its educational principles were made clear to
the team.
-- WASC
The College has integrated ongoing evaluation of instruction,
student outcomes, and curriculum into the structure of the
educational program. A most effective assessment instrument
is the "Don Rags" held each semester, in which each
student meets with all tutors from his or her classes for
a semester, in which they together explore ways in which the
student might better address the process of learning and in
which the student comments on the quality of instruction.
This is a remarkable practice.
-- WASC
Faculty
The students gave high praise to their tutors and to an education
which they viewed as unique. When asked in the student meeting
whether their tutors "were good enough for them",
students responded that they were worried whether they "were
good enough for their tutors." They affirmed that the
tutors "were some of the smartest people" they had
ever known.
-- WASC
The Team wishes to commend the faculty of Thomas Aquinas
College for their selfless dedication to the college and its
mission, for their intellectual curiosity and love of learning,
for their wish to know and for their willingness to work hard
so that they might know, for their commitment to the life
of the teacher, and for the inspiration and model they provide
to their students (and to their colleagues elsewhere) of what
it means to live the life of the mind."
-- AALE
The primary role of the tutor is to empower students
to pursue the analysis of the required texts and to interject
his or her ideas as minimally as possible. Thus, students
have unusually strong motivation to sift, to question and
to learn. They recognize that the responsibility for class
content is primarily theirs, and they rise to the challenge
with an exceptional degree of success.
-- WASC
Given the College's historical development and educational
philosophy, the administrators share the exact same goals
as those in the rest of the institution. In nearly all aspects
this institution is a seamless garment. The team found uniform
support for the current president. By virtue of his ten years
as dean as well as his passionate dedication to the ideals
of the institution, he is able to work effectively with all
constituencies of the College."
-- WASC
Student Services and the Co-Curricular Learning Environment
Team members were very impressed by a co-curricular
environment which is characterized by continuous and serious
conversation, often extending class discussion into the residence
halls and commons areas.
-- WASC
The intellectual life is clearly paramount as all other
student interests are secondary. There is ample evidence,
however, that the students have as much social and recreational
activity as they wish.
-- WASC
In the best tradition of a residential college, students
characterize the College as character building in that it
'not only teaches you, it changes you.' Students value their
seriousness in leading a life pleasing to God, which includes
adherence to virtue in all matters, practicing respect for
others, affirming chastity before marriage, and endorsing
differentiation of the sexes which nonetheless affirms both
sexes as rational truth seekers.
-- WASC
Library
The entire curriculum of Thomas Aquinas College consists
of reading and studying great books and original texts. Students
are expected to confront the text itself and "see what's
there," consequently, they are discouraged from consulting
secondary sources and becoming captives, as it were, of someone
else's interpretation. Research by students into what others
have said about a text is discouraged in favor of their careful
reading of the text itself. The library, therefore, performs
a special function at Thomas Aquinas. It is to support the
great books program by providing alternative translations
of the works studied in the seminars and tutorials and by
supplying other works by authors included in the curriculum
and important books that address the perennial questions of
the human mind (especially in the realms of literature, philosophy,
and theology). The library also seeks to offer extra-curricular
readings in history and biography, social science, and mathematics
and the physical sciences, as well as materials to relax the
students' minds, including fiction, periodicals, and music
recordings.
-- AALE
Financial Aid
The College's response to student needs is seen nowhere more
clearly than in financial aid. Students are grateful for the
generous financial help that makes it possible for many to
attend the College and for the willingness of the admissions
and financial aid staffs to advise them on ways to finance
their education. Thomas Aquinas College is one of the few
private colleges that meets full financial need for any student
who wishes to attend.
-- WASC
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