Thomas Aquinas College Named
a "Best College"
by The Princeton Review
(August 24, 2007)
SANTA PAULA, CA — August 24, 2007-Thomas Aquinas College offers
students an outstanding undergraduate education, according to The
Princeton Review. The New York-based education services company
features the 4-year, Catholic college in the new 2008 edition of
its annual book, Best 366 Colleges (Random House / Princeton Review,
August 21, 2007, $21.95). Only about 15% of the country's four-year
colleges were chosen for the guide, which offers a profile of each
school and ranks the top 20 colleges in 62 categories. In addition
to ranking 5th among private colleges nationwide in the "Best
Value" category, Thomas Aquinas College ranked among the top
20 in 17 other categories.
Says Robert Franek, Princeton Review's V.P., Publishing, "We
chose schools for this book primarily for their outstanding academics.
We evaluated them based on institutional data we collect about the
schools, feedback from students attending them, and our visits to
schools over the years. We also consider the opinions of independent
college counselors, students, and parents we hear from year-long."
In its profile of Thomas Aquinas College, The Princeton Review
says, "Thomas Aquinas' unique curriculum helps distinguish
the small college within the field of higher education, and many
interested students cite the school's academic philosophy as one
of its chief attractors. TAC professors demand that their students
demonstrate intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm."
The profile also quotes extensively from Thomas Aquinas College
students who were surveyed by The Princeton Review for the book.
Says one student, "This is a Catholic college, and it's proud
of its Catholic identity." Another, who walked away from more
than three years of mechanical engineering training at another university
after reading the college's founding document, comments, "The
typical student at TAC has a zeal for seeking the truth."
The 62 ranking lists in the 2008 edition of Best 366 Colleges are
based on The Princeton Review's survey of 120,000 students attending
those 366 colleges. The 80-question survey asked students to rate
their schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences
at them.
Thomas Aquinas College appears in 17 of the "Top 20"
ranking lists. Among these rankings are Best Classroom Experience
(#3), Professors Make Themselves Accessible (#4), Happiest Students
(#10), Best Quality of Life (#14), Class Discussions Encouraged
(#14), Students Pray on a Regular Basis (#2), Most Beautiful Campus
(#17), Students Happy with Financial Aid (#3).
Most notably, Thomas Aquinas College was ranked #5 in the list
of "Top 10 Best Value-Private Colleges" in the 2008 edition
of America's Best Value Colleges, another Priceton Review publication
that profiles 168 of the 366 colleges that appear in the Best 366
Colleges. According to The Princeton Review, America's Best Value
Colleges showcases "schools that we believe offer solid academics
and enroll good students who are happy with the education they are
receiving, and, additionally-and more importantly-do not have to
mortgage their futures because their school is charging them way
too much."
Media Contact for Princeton Review Books:
Jeanne Krier, 212-539-1350,
Jeanne@Jeannekrier.com
ABOUT THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE
Thomas Aquinas College opened its doors in 1971. It is a four-year
Catholic liberal arts college exclusively devoted to the study of
the Great Books, using only the Socratic method of dialogue in all
of its classes. There are no text books, no lectures and no electives.
Instead, the College offers an entirely integrated curriculum using
only the original texts of the greatest thinkers who have helped
shape Western Civilization. These authors include St. Thomas Aquinas,
St. Augustine, Aristotle, Plato, Shakespeare, Euclid, Dante, Galileo,
Descartes, our American Founding Fathers, Adam Smith, Copernicus,
Kepler, and Newton to name a few.
Thomas Aquinas College graduates consistently excel in the many
world-class institutions where they pursue graduate degrees in such
disciplines professions as law, medicine, business, theology and
education. They have distinguished themselves in these fields serving
as headmasters, business owners, lawyers, priests, journalists,
doctors, military service men and women, educators and college presidents.
|
