Thomas Aquinas College
Founded in the 1960s and '70s to counter the decline in Catholic higher education and renew what is best in the Western intellectual heritage.

📍10,000 Ojai Road, Santa Paula, CA 93060
📞(805) 525-4417
📍231 Main Street, Northfield, MA 01360
📞(413) 846-1200
🌐 Thomas Aquinas College Website
No. of Students: 355 in California; 161 in New England
No. of Majors/Areas of Study: Single integrated classical curriculum that spans all the major disciplines
Mandatum: Yes
Daily or Weekly Eucharistic Adoration: Yes
Places Where Students Can Study Abroad: N/A
Annual Cost of Tuition: $39,400
Typical % of students who receive scholarships and/or typical amount of financial aid: 67% of students receive institutional financial aid, for an average of $18,079.
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 1:11
Why TAC
Thomas Aquinas College is the only faithfully Catholic college that offers a fully integrated Great Books curriculum that spans all the major disciplines and is taught entirely via classroom discussion. Our two campuses — California and New England — both foster intellectual, religious and moral formation, as well as lifelong friendships.
The Institution:
- President’s Oath
- Catholic Board
- Catholic Faculty
- Mandatum Required
- Theologians’ Oath
Campus Culture:
- Mass and Confession
- Speakers Vetted
- Unobjectionable Clubs
- No Coed Dorms
- Health Services Okay
School’s Comments:
Institution: Though Thomas Aquinas College opened its doors 20 years prior to the promulgation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, its founding document foreshadowed in many ways Pope St. John Paul II’s directives to Catholic universities and colleges. Our mission is to provide a genuinely Catholic liberal education under the light of the teaching Church and according to the doctrine and method of the universal doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. The college has two campuses — one in California and the other in New England — and offers on both campuses one integrated curriculum that spans the major disciplines and employs the Great Books and the discussion method in its classes. Graduates go on to a wide variety of pursuits: law, medicine, education, journalism, public policy, military service, business, technology and the priesthood and religious life.
Mass and Confession: During the week, Mass is offered four times daily, while two Masses are offered on Saturdays and three on Sundays. Confessions are heard before and after each of these Masses. The first Mass of the day is said in the extraordinary form; all others are offered in the ordinary form, in English and Latin.
Coed Dorms: The college has only single-sex dorms, and visitation by the opposite sex is prohibited at all times.
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