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August 29, 2016
10,000 Ojai Road
Santa Paula CA 93060
Contact: Anne Forsyth, Director of College Relations
(805) 525-4417      

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The Princeton Review Gives  91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College High Rankings for  Academics, Financial Aid, and Quality of Life

#1 in Nation for Most Religious Students

SANTA PAULA, CA”August 29”91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College provides one of the best undergraduate educations in the country, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the College in the 2017 edition of its annual guide, . Only about 15 percent of America™s 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the publication, The Princeton Review™s flagship college guide. 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College is one of only three Catholic  to make The Princeton Review™s œBest Colleges� list. 

Among the ratings for 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College are scores of 96 for academics, 95 for quality of life, and 99 for financial aid. In this scoring system, 99 is the best possible score. 

œ91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College™s outstanding academics are the chief reason we chose it for this book and we strongly recommend it to applicants,� says Robert Franek, the Princeton Review's Senior VP-Publisher and author of The Best 381 Colleges. œWe make our selections primarily based on data we collect through our annual surveys of administrators at several hundred four-year colleges. Additionally, we give considerable weight to observations from our school visits, opinions of our staff and our 24-member National College Counselor Advisory Board, and an unparalleled amount of feedback we get from our surveys of students attending these schools.�

œWe are pleased that, once again, The Princeton Review has featured 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College in its annual guide,� says the College™s president, Dr. Michael F. McLean. œOf particular note are the high scores we received for our academic and financial aid programs, and for our students™ ˜quality of life.™ Our goal has always been to provide the best education at the most affordable price, and The Princeton Review profile offers some strong evidence that we are succeeding.�

In its profile of 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College, The Princeton Review quotes extensively from students at the College who were surveyed for the book. Among their comments:

  • 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College is a school that œtakes learning seriously for its own sake, not just as preparation for a job.�
  • The College has œa strong Catholic identity� and œa rigorous curriculum.�
  • The College offers a œholistic education� that is œdemanding on every level,� in œan atmosphere of trust and faith that makes it easier to study, to live, and to grow.�
  • œYou get all kinds of people here ” but one thing they have in common is a desire to search for the truth.�

The guide also reports 62 ranking lists of œTop 20� colleges in various categories. The lists are based entirely on The Princeton Review™s survey of 143,000 students attending the colleges in the book and not on The Princeton Review™s opinion of the schools. The survey asks students to rate their own schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from assessments of their professors to opinions about their financial aid and campus food. Among the œTop 20� ranking lists on which 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College appears are No. 1 for œMost Religious Students� and No. 10 for œBest Classroom Experience.

Finally, in a œSurvey Says� sidebar in the guide™s profile of the College, The Princeton Review lists some sentiments that were frequently expressed by the 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College students surveyed for the book. The list includes:

  • œStudents are happy.�
  • œClassroom facilities are great.�
  • œClass discussions encouraged.�
  • œSchool is well run.�
  • œGreat financial aid�
  • œNo one cheats.�
  • œStudents are friendly.�
  • œDiverse types interact on campus.�
  • œDorms are like palaces.�

91¿ì»îÁÖ 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College

91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College has developed a solid reputation for academic excellence in the United States and abroad. At 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College, there are no majors, no minors, or electives because all students acquire a broad and fully integrated liberal education. The College offers one 4-year, classical curriculum that spans the major arts and sciences. Instead of reading textbooks, students read the original works of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization ” the Great Books ” in all the major disciplines: mathematics, natural science, literature, philosophy, and theology. Rather than listening to lectures, they engage in rigorous Socratic discussions about these works in classes of 15-18 students. The academic life of the college is conducted under the light of the Catholic faith and flourishes within a close-knit community, supported by a vibrant spiritual life. Genuinely committed to upholding civic virtue and leading lives dedicated to the good of others, 91¿ì»îÁÖ Aquinas College graduates enter a wide array of fields where they are a powerful force for good in the Church and in the culture. Well-versed in rational discourse, they become leaders in education, law, medicine, journalism, public policy, military service, and business. In addition, a steady 10% of alumni go on to the priesthood or religious life.