Thomas Aquinas College
Ranked No. 3 "Best Value"
(Fall 1998 Newsletter)
The U.S. News & World Report publication,
America's Best Colleges, 1999, has ranked Thomas Aquinas
College as the 3rd Best Value among the nation's liberal
arts colleges. To determine the Best Value rankings, U.S.
News & World Report uses an equation that relates
a school's quality ranking to its cost--covering tuition,
room and board, fees, and personal expenses--once financial
aid is taken into account. "The higher the quality and the
lower the cost, the better the value," say the editors.
Thomas Aquinas College is the only Catholic
liberal arts college to make the list. It ranked above other
California colleges such as Pomona and Claremont McKenna (which
tied for 13th), as well as eastern schools such as Amherst
and Swarthmore.
U.S. News & World Report also
ranked Thomas Aquinas College as Number One in schools
with the highest proportion of classes under 20 students.
Committed to a unique curriculum based on reading original
texts known as the "Great Books" and using the Socratic method
of instruction in small, vigorous seminars, Thomas Aquinas
College is the only ranked college with 100% of its classes
that small.
The College's Number Three "Best Value" ranking
is the highest ranking the College has received since U.S.
News & World Report first began making such rankings
in the 1996-97 academic year. (The College was ranked 15th
last year, and 12th the year before).
The ranking comports with other rankings
by other publications in recent years. For example, Money
Magazine puts the College in its "Top Rated" in the West
class and 7th among religious colleges and universities nationwide.
Barron's lists the College in its 300 "Best Buys in
College Education," and National Review declares the
College to be "one of America's 50 top liberal arts schools."
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