Thomas Aquinas College finds the honor gratifying but “ironic”
We are in the midst of a general crisis in higher education – an intellectual and spiritual crisis that is creating a generation of muddle-headed, unbelieving young people. One need only glance at the militant abortion apologists, the LGBT activists and the Antifa defenders — not to mention the rash of young, ideologically-indoctrinated assassins of the innocent.
Sadly, most Catholic colleges and universities long ago gave up their claim to truth and thus have been plunged into the very same crisis.
Catholic parents by the thousands have discovered the hard way that the “Catholic” school to which they sent their children was in fact an environment in which students routinely lost their faith, and often became “woke” and radicalized.
Even parents who felt uneasy about these Catholic schools still have believed that without the university diplomas they offered, their children would face future employment woes and pauperism.
Thomas Aquinas College, a classic liberal arts college and an orthodox Catholic institution, has proven them wrong.
In its annual review of American colleges and universities, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Thomas Aquinas College — which has campuses in California and Massachusetts — No. 1 in the United States for “social mobility.”
But the college is quick to point out that the designation is, in fact, “ironic.”
“This honor is greatly appreciated — but also ironic,” says John Goyette, Thomas Aquinas College’s vice president for advancement. “While many schools build their entire academic program around trying to help students improve their socioeconomic status, Thomas Aquinas College is not one of them.”
More than 50 years ago, the college was founded by a small band of Catholic professors in California who were able to read the signs of the times, and saw Catholic education collapsing around them.
They decided to embark on a journey of their own: to establish a unique program of authentically Catholic liberal education, in which students pursue truth and knowledge as paths not only to wisdom, but also holiness. And by the grace of God, they succeeded.
They named the college after the great “Angelic Doctor” of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, author of the Summa Theologiae. The college’s integrated curriculum draws entirely upon the Great Books of Western civilization, with four years of philosophy, natural science, literature, mathematics and theology. There are no business classes, no professional-training programs, not even majors and minors. “Our founders figured that, having honed the powers of comprehension, analysis, and reasoned discourse, our alumni would excel in their future work, but that was never the point,” adds Dr. Goyette. “Students pursue this education not to climb some societal ladder, but for its own sake. And yet, according to the nation’s most popular college guide, this education better prepares them to ‘get ahead’ than countless other curricula dedicated to that very purpose.”
To determine its Social Mobility Index, U.S. News considers the percentage of students at a given school who qualify for Pell Grants — an indicator of economic need — and looks at their graduation rates relative to the overall student body. “Our high ranking reflects the college’s commitment to its robust financial aid program, which puts this education within reach of every family,” says Dr. Goyette. “It’s also a testament to our small classes and devoted teaching faculty, who enable students to thrive in a highly rigorous program.”
The college, in fact, turns out to be ideal preparation for excelling in potentially higher-paid professions which require reasoning and analytical skills, such as medicine, law, government service, entrepreneurism and business management, to name a few.
Of the more than 4,000 American institutions included in the U.S. News annual survey, Thomas Aquinas College once again ranks among the top 100 national liberal arts colleges (one of only seven Catholic schools), climbing eight spots from last year to No. 55 overall and No. 63 among “Best Value Schools.” The magazine bases rankings on “17 key measures of academic quality,” ranging from graduation and retention rates to faculty resources and graduates’ average federal loan debt.
