U.S.News & World Report’s 2007 America’s Best Colleges edition has hit the newsstands and Thomas Aquinas College ranks 73rd, one of only four Catholic colleges to break into the top 100 national liberal arts colleges.

Thomas Aquinas College was the only Catholic liberal arts college to place in three other categories: the College was ranked 36th in the “Great Schools, Great Price” section, was one of twenty five named in the “Least Debt” category and ranked 1st among liberal arts colleges for the highest proportion of classes under 20 students – 98%. Read full press release here.

Jan 8, 2006: Thomas Aquinas College was included on the New York Times list of 106 best colleges and universities in the United States who "admit the country's best students." Only three other Catholic institutions were so named: Boston College, Georgetown University, and the University of Notre Dame.

Donald Asher, in his guide to Cool Colleges published in 2000 says, "The best college class I ever attended, undergraduate or graduate, was at Thomas Aquinas College...I will remember this class, where I was but a guest, for the rest of my life." Mr. Asher continues his praise of the College in his complete comments.

December, 2006: Thomas Aquinas College was again ranked among the “Top Ten Conservative Colleges” in Young America Foundation’s second annual college ranking.

Taking into consideration the “overall experience that colleges offer,” Young America Foundation praised the top ten institutions for avoiding “trends in academe by continuing to study Western Civilization,” thereby giving “students a complete understanding of our country, our culture, and its founding principles.”

Described as one of the “myth breakers, schools which breach the supposed link between college price and college quality,” Thomas Aquinas College was again profiled in the eighth edition of Barron’s Best Buys in College Education.

Colleges making the final cut were specifically praised for “the performance of their faculties, the depth and comprehensiveness of their curricula, the preparation of their students for lives after graduation, and the prices they charge for their services.”

Insight Magazine includes Thomas Aquinas College among its "15 Best U.S. Colleges."

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute profiled Thomas Aquinas College in its book, Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth about America's 100 Top Schools. Former Education Secretary, William J. Bennett, prepared the Introduction for the book.

The Institute commends the College for having a "curriculum virtually unparalleled for providing students with a rigorous liberal arts education."

The National Review College Guide, America's Top Liberal Arts Schools, evaluated liberal arts colleges according to (1) the quality and availability of the faculty; (2) the quality of the curriculum; and (3) the quality of the intellectual environment.

The review commends the College for offering "one of the most rigorous curriculums of any school in the country."

50 Hours: A Core Curriculum for College Students

Lynn Cheney, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1989 published her ground-breaking book, 50 Hours: A Core Curriculum for College Students (1989).

Her book cites the College as one of several model colleges whose core programs were of such rigor and extent that they defined the entire curriculum.

Decadence and Renewal in the Higher Learning

Author Russell Kirk, in his book, Decadence and Renewal in the Higher Learning, stated: "Thomas Aquinas College . . . combines the Great Books method of education with the Catholic mind, and has made itself probably the best college in the United States for obtaining a systematic traditional discipline, united to the Christian understanding of the human condition."

Columbia University invited Thomas Aquinas College to participate in a study funded by the Mellon Foundation on institutional autonomy. The study's authors sought to consult "a small number of leading thinkers and doers in higher education" in order to "contribute to the public debate about accountability and to urge greater attention to teaching and learning."

The E.L. Wiegand Foundation

In 1998, the E. L. Wiegand Foundation of Reno, Nevada, established a Distinguishing Visiting Lecturer Program for the benefit of Thomas Aquinas College and St. John's College, Santa Fe.

The purpose of the program is to promote "Great Books" education by bringing to each campus a distinguished lecturer who will become exposed to each college's academic program and who will, in turn, bring greater visibility to each college.

The American Academy of Liberal Education

Thomas Aquinas College helped break a monopoly of the nation's six regional accreditation agencies by helping to form and obtaining charter membership in the American Academy of Liberal Education (AALE). Thus, since 1995, the Department of Education has authorized AALE to accredit colleges and universities nationwide.

 Dr. Thomas E. Dillon
President

Dr. Thomas E. Dillon, president of Thomas College, has been honored with numerous distinctions owing to the reputation of the College. His appointments include those by:

• The U.S. House of Representatives to an 11-member Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (for two successive three-year terms);

• The Heritage Foundation, to its Higher Education Working Group;

• The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, to its Commission on Campus Concerns