College statistics
- Address:
- 10000 Ojai Road
Santa Paula, CA
93060 - Sector Group:
- Private Not-for-Profit 4-Year or Above
- Official Website:
- https://thomasaquinas.edu/
- Setting:
- Rural
- Annual In-State Tuition:
- $30,200
- Annual Out-of-State Tuition:
- $30,200
- Room and Board:
- $11,200
- Acceptance Rate:
- 78.7%
- Endowment (End of Year):
- $30,834,386
- Research Activity Tier:
- No research designation
- Economic Mobility Index:
- Lower Access, Medium Earnings
- Primary Undergraduate Major:
- Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
Thomas Aquinas College is a private, Catholic liberal arts college serving about 540 students who are drawn to a distinctive educational model centered on reading and discussing the great works of Western civilization. The college sits in rural Santa Paula, in Ventura County, about an hour north of Los Angeles. It's the kind of place where the curriculum itself—not electives or specializations—is the main event, and students engage directly with primary texts rather than textbooks.
Tuition runs $28,700 per year, with room and board adding another $10,700, bringing your total cost of attendance to $43,426 annually. With 539 students enrolled, this is genuinely small—you'll know your classmates and professors will know you. The college has an endowment of about $9.6 million, which is modest but helps keep costs down relative to peer institutions.
About 82% of students graduate within six years, and the college admits roughly 79% of applicants, so it's accessible without being a free-for-all. Admitted students typically score around 690 on the SAT reading section and 640 on math, with an ACT composite around 33. This school works best for students who genuinely want a contemplative, discussion-based education rooted in Catholic thought and the liberal arts—not for those looking for career-specific training or a large campus experience.