Intercollegiate Studies Institute Commends Thomas Aquinas
College
Santa Paula, California — Describing the College’s
curriculum as "virtually unparalleled for providing its
students with a rigorous liberal arts program," the Intercollegiate
Studies Institute has numbered Thomas Aquinas College among
its choices for the 1999 college guide, Choosing the Right
College: The Whole Truth about America’s 100 Top Schools.
The guide calls the academic program of the College "both
interdisciplinary and cohesive — in short, the very essence
of liberal education." In his forward to the book, former
Secretary of Education William Bennett points out that Choosing
the Right College fills a void among the array of college
guides: it analyzes and evaluates colleges and universities,
academic departments, and professors on the basis of principled
instruction and intellectual rigor.
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute was founded in 1953
"to identify the best and brightest college students
and to nurture in these future leaders an allegiance to the
American ideal of ordered liberty." The Institute cites
the attack on the liberal arts tradition both from the proponents
of education for jobs and careers and from the rise of political
ideologies that seek to undermine the very foundation of Western
learning. As the editors of the guide note, "Choosing
the Right College has a definite point of view on this
subject", namely, that young people need to acquire the
wisdom and depth of judgement that arise from reflecting on
the classic written works of our civilization. The guide focuses
on where students and parents can find the liberal arts tradition
at our nation’s elite institutions of higher learning.
The editors of Choosing the Right College observe
the growing recognition among parents and educators that the
liberal arts tradition is essential in enabling young people
to face the challenges of the modern world. The growth in
the size of the Thomas Aquinas College student body over recent
years is evidence that this observation is accurate. In September,
87 freshmen enrolled at Thomas Aquinas College — the
most ever — and brought the student body to 246 —
also the most ever. The 147 men and 99 women come from 37
states, 4 foreign countries, and Puerto Rico. To accommodate
the growing enrollment, work has begun on a fourth new residence
hall. The 14,160 sq. foot, $1.8 million building will house
64 women by next fall. In addition, the College is in the
final phase of fund-raising for its next major building, St.
Albert the Great Science Hall.
The College’s freshmen demonstrate one of the criteria
applied to institutions included in Choosing the Right
College: academic excellence. Their average SAT was 1239,
a score which is among the highest in the nation. Five freshmen
had prior bachelors degrees and six were recognized by the
National Merit Scholarship Corporation as Finalist, Semi-finalist,
or Commended Scholar.
Thomas Aquinas College was founded in 1971 as a restoration
of genuine Catholic liberal education. It is a coeducational,
undergraduate college offering a Bachelor of Arts degree in
liberal arts. For information about the College, write to
Thomas Aquinas College, 10,000 North Ojai Road, Santa Paula,
California 93060.
ISI's Article About
Thomas Aquinas College
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