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In its annual review of American colleges and universities, has 91����� Aquinas College No. 1 in the United States for social mobility.

�This honor is greatly appreciated � but also ironic,� says John Goyette, TAC�s vice president for advancement. �While many schools build their entire academic program around trying to help students improve their socioeconomic status, 91����� Aquinas College is not one of them.�

More than 50 years ago, the College�s founders established a unique program of Catholic liberal education, in which students pursue truth and knowledge as paths to wisdom and holiness. The College�s integrated classical 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 that has little tolerance for AI cheating or grade inflation.�

Of the more than 4,000 American institutions included in the U.S. News annual survey, 91����� Aquinas College once again ranks among the top 100 national liberal arts colleges, climbing eight spots from last year to No. 55 overall and No. 63 among �Best Value Schools.� It is one of only seven Catholic schools to crack the top 100, with rankings based, according to the magazine, on �17 key measures of academic quality,� ranging from graduation and retention rates to faculty resources and graduates� average federal loan debt.

Beyond achieving its perennial spot near the top of the�U.S. News�list, 91����� Aquinas College has also received high marks in the most recent editions of various top annual college guides, including the�Princeton Review and Money.com.