Thomas Aquinas College

Thomas Aquinas College has seen its position on the U.S. News & World Report Best National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking shift downward over recent years, placing 68th in 2027 after holding the 35th spot in 2020. Gaining admission to the college is relatively accessible based on its acceptance metrics. In 2025, the college admitted 83.1% of its applicants, an acceptance rate that was higher than 90% of peer schools in a comparison group of similar private liberal arts colleges. While admission selectivity is moderate, the institution demonstrates a strong pull on the applicants it chooses to admit. Its yield rate reached 67.7% in 2025, which was higher than all peer schools in the comparison group. For families evaluating college options, this combination indicates that while getting admitted presents fewer hurdles than at many other institutions, the admitted student pool shows a high level of dedication by enrolling at rates far exceeding typical peer colleges.

Applicants to Thomas Aquinas College should prepare for academic expectations that align closely with the middle tier of private liberal arts institutions. In 2025, the median SAT score for enrolled students stood at 1310, which was higher than 41% of peer schools in a comparison group of similar private liberal arts colleges. On the ACT, the middle score range for enrolled students spanned between 28 and 33. While the college evaluates applicants through a broad admissions review, these test results offer a clear picture of academic standards on campus. Standardized testing reflects strong verbal and analytical foundations, which match the college's seminar discussions and Great Books curriculum. Prospective applicants presenting scores within these ranges will find themselves well aligned with the academic profile of enrolled peers.

Academic offerings at Thomas Aquinas College are entirely focused on a unified undergraduate curriculum. In 2025, the college conferred 119 bachelor's degrees and offered no graduate degrees. Every single graduate—100% of the graduating class—completed the major in Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies. Because the entire institution follows a single Great Books program, degrees are completely concentrated in this single field rather than distributed across multiple disciplines or specialized technical areas. International students made up 8.4% of these degree recipients, representing 10 graduates in 2025. Looking at early career financial returns, 2023 earnings figures show that graduates in the field of Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities earned a median salary of $36,395 one year after graduation. Prospective applicants should understand that the college does not offer conventional disciplinary majors or professional tracks; choosing this institution means committing to an exclusively discussion-based, classical liberal arts curriculum.

Thomas Aquinas College educates an intimate undergraduate student body where White and Hispanic undergraduates form the clear majority, while international and Asian students represent very small shares. In 2025, the college maintained an entirely undergraduate population with no graduate students. Among incoming freshmen, international students numbered 8, accounting for 5.2% of the class. Asian students are similarly few in number, with 2 students representing 1.3% of the first-year cohort. Continuing classes show a comparable distribution, with international and Asian learners each making up a modest portion of returning undergraduates. The undergraduate community is largely composed of students of traditional college age between eighteen and twenty-one years old. For prospective families and applicants assessing campus life, these figures indicate an educational setting where international and Asian students study in very small peer groups within a close-knit learning community.

The student population at Thomas Aquinas College is overwhelmingly of traditional undergraduate age. According to 2025 age data covering 539 undergraduates, students aged 18 to 19 formed the largest segment at 247 students, accounting for 45.8% of the student body. The second-largest group consisted of 212 students aged 20 to 21, making up 39.3% of undergraduates. Students aged 22 to 24 totaled 47, representing 8.7%. Because the college operates exclusively at the undergraduate level and enrolls virtually no non-traditional older students, campus life is shaped entirely by young adults progressing through a shared four-year cohort experience.

International enrollment at Thomas Aquinas College has trended upward in recent years, though it remains a small portion of the overall community. In 2025, international students accounted for 6.7% of all undergraduates, an increase from earlier years. This share placed the college higher than 53% of peer schools in a comparison group of similar private liberal arts colleges. Because the institution does not offer graduate degree programs, there are no international graduate students on campus. Among degree recipients in 2025, international students comprised 8.4% of bachelor's degree graduates. In terms of academic fields, all international graduates completed their degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies, which is the college's sole academic program. For prospective international applicants, these patterns demonstrate a steady international presence that is fully engaged in the college's singular Great Books curriculum rather than dispersed across various specialized departments.

Families exploring higher education options in Southern California can consider several diverse institutions located near Thomas Aquinas College. Pepperdine University is a private national university located 34.7 kilometers away in Malibu, ranked 80th in the 2027 U.S. News National University rankings. Along the coast 43.3 kilometers away lies University of California-Santa Barbara, a public research institution ranked 44th among national universities. Closer to urban Los Angeles, University of California-Los Angeles is situated 44.3 kilometers from the campus and holds the 20th position nationally. For students seeking another private liberal arts environment, Occidental College is located 54.2 kilometers away in Los Angeles and is ranked 38th among national liberal arts colleges.

Campus safety records at Thomas Aquinas College reflect a very low volume of reported offenses across recent years. In 2025, Forward Pathway's crime rate per 1,000 students stood at 5.3, rising from 2.7 in 2016. Because of the small size of the campus community, even a minor change in incident reports can produce a noticeable shift in the calculated rate. Across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, incident totals in the primary tracked categories remained limited, consisting of 1 theft, 1 assault, and isolated occurrences of stalking and sexual harassment. Disciplinary actions and serious security violations remain rare throughout campus life. For families and prospective students evaluating campus security, the environment at the college is characterized by a contained residential setting with very few criminal incidents reported over multiple years.