Thomas Aquinas College considers reasonably sized student loans as resources available to you. The Financial Aid Office, therefore, assumes you will obtain a student loan before seeking other financial aid from Thomas Aquinas College and will include a student loan as part of your financial aid package each year. You may decline to borrow a student loan, but in that case the amount that would have come from the student loan will be added to your expected cash payment due for the school year.

Student loans must be repaid.

You may borrow a student loan from any source. Most students prefer to take advantage of government-sponsored student loan programs that offer beneficial terms, such as Federal Direct Student Loans or Canada Student Loans. If a student is not eligible for such a loan, the College still assumes the student will borrow the expected amount from one of the many banks offering student loans or from some other source.

For the 2024-25 Academic Year, Thomas Aquinas College assumes U.S. students will borrow at the following levels: $3,500 for freshmen, $4,500 for sophomores, and $5,500 for juniors and seniors, for a total loan balance of $19,000 by graduation. Students from outside the U.S. are asked to borrow an equivalent amount in U.S. dollars, although it is evenly distributed over the four years. (Please note that the $19,000 is not a loan ceiling or cap - some students elect to borrow more than this according to their individual situations.) 

This amount is considerably less than the maximum loan amount available to students through the federal Direct Loan Program and considerably less than the average student loan indebtedness of students attending other four-year, private colleges. The College is committed to doing what it can to see that its alumni are not burdened with excessive debt.

The parents of a dependent student may also borrow funds from the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Program.

There are also many alternative loan programs available to students and parents that offer low-cost, flexible ways to meet educational costs.

Thomas Aquinas College neither solicits nor receives any benefit from any lender, guarantor, or servicer of education loans. The College seeks to ensure transparency in the administration of its student financial aid program and to always work in the student’s and the family’s best interest. To avoid any harm that may arise from actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest, Thomas Aquinas College has adopted a Loan Program Code of Conduct (PDF).