Thomas Aquinas College
If you’re considering hiring a Thomas Aquinas College graduate, you may have some questions, such as: What is a classical liberal education? What was my job candidate’s major? Why should I hire a Thomas Aquinas College graduate? Thomas Aquinas College’s program of classical liberal education covers all seven of the traditional disciplines — mathematics, natural science, language, literature, music, philosophy, and theology. Our students don’t read textbooks, but the original works of the greatest minds of Western civilization, such as Newton, Einstein, Aristotle, Shakespeare, and St. Thomas Aquinas, to name only a few. The College has received the highest academic rankings from The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger, Forbes, and various other college guides. The College does not offer any major or minors. All students study the same integrated curriculum that spans the major arts and sciences. That curriculum includes four years of science and mathematics, with enough credit hours to qualify, at most colleges and universities, for a double major in philosophy and theology with a minor in mathematics, Why should you hire a Thomas Aquinas College graduate? The College’s one-of-a-kind academic program does not simply teach students a set of skills; it equips them with the ability to quickly learn *any* skill set. Working through our rigorous curriculum, they develop the habits of diligence and perseverance, the discipline of analytical thinking, and the tools of excellent communication and ethical decision-making. In our small classes, where discussions are focused, intense, and sometimes contentious, they also learn to work as teams toward a single goal — the pursuit of truth. Consider the following testimonials from other employers: “Because of their experience with the seminar method, the College’s alumni are uniquely adept at solving problems and working cooperatively.” — Dr. Thomas R. Krau...www.thomasaquinas.edu
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Search complete. 41 mentions across 15 episodes found for "Thomas Aquinas College".
Sep 12, 2026
Andrew BrancaHOST
This movement is already reshaping the educational track students aspiring to attend our top service academies are taking in high school.
Andrew BrancaHOST
Add to this our early adopter institutions such as Hillsdale College, famously conservative, the University of Dallas, and Thomas Aquinas College, for whom the CLT has become the main college entrance exam.
Andrew BrancaHOST
By the end of the day, we really do need your help to fully replace the SAT.
Andrew BrancaHOST
Many individuals love what we are doing, but when it comes to their own children, they choose the easier test, SAT and ACT, to maximize admissions and scholarship opportunities.
Lane ScottGUEST
It's not abandoned in that sense.
Lane ScottGUEST
there were many many more people here during the gold rush like the population is less than it was at its peak so it's a different deal to be california rural but in general um my my upbringing is very compatible with liberalism my two my two brothers are atheists uh strike one stridently so and are are progressive liberals and then i ended up My dad ended up sending me to a summer program for Thomas Aquinas College to do great books because he loved that classical education.
Lane ScottGUEST
I had never met any Catholics and didn't know anything about that world.
Lane ScottGUEST
I knew something about the academic side of great books, but Thomas Aquinas College is very conservative, very traditionalist.
Lane ScottGUEST
And so I went to the SOM program and I just loved learning in that Socratic way.
Lane ScottGUEST
Like my brain had never worked as hard as it did.
Lane ScottGUEST
It's something you do because it's cool to do.
Lane ScottGUEST
So I think that's where a lot of my stuff, it's actually a pretty common reaction when people, they say like, well, at first I saw you're pretty feminist in these ways, but then you also own land and you actually, you know, I actually am a trad.
Colin FredericksonHOST
He joined pickup games wherever he could find them.
Colin FredericksonHOST
While attending Thomas Aquinas College in Massachusetts, he helped establish a competitive club team.
Colin FredericksonHOST
He later contacted about 120 coaches.
Colin FredericksonHOST
Eleven responded with offers.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
I owe her a deep gratitude for that, so thank you, Elen.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
Next, I would like to dedicate this lecture to the founders of Thomas Aquinas College.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
The four principal founders are Ron MacArthur, Mark Berkwist, Jack Neumeier, and Pete DeLuca.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
During my days as a student, Dr. MacArthur and often the other founders would speak to the students following our formal dinners on special occasions in the commons.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
There are many things that are characteristic of the education at Thomas Aquinas College.
Josef C. FroulaGUEST
We focus on the great books.
Brian DragooUNKNOWN
But before all that, she really wanted an education.
Brian DragooUNKNOWN
So after high school, she came here to study the great books at Thomas Aquinas College in the late 90s.
Brian DragooUNKNOWN
After her graduation in 2003, she had plans either to return to the farm or to go on to camel school.
Brian DragooUNKNOWN
But she was too deeply in love with the life of the mind after her four years here at the college, and so she went on to the University of Dallas to study philosophy.
6 MINS LATER
Elizabeth ReyesGUEST
We probably already know that the word liberal comes from the word for free.
Elizabeth ReyesGUEST
And so this kind of education should be freeing to the soul.
Elizabeth ReyesGUEST
And, according to the founders of Thomas Aquinas College, crucial to freeing studies is to cultivate wonder, which the founders called, quote, the proper human motive for higher education, end quote.
Elizabeth ReyesGUEST
They also wrote the following.
Christopher SebastianHOST
We are a Catholic classical distance learning school centered around the church's teaching that parents are the primary educators of their children.
Christopher SebastianHOST
Laura was a pivotal player in the early homeschooling movement in the United States, publishing Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum in 1998, which drew from her homeschooling experience with her children, as well as her educational background from Thomas Aquinas College.
Christopher SebastianHOST
This book became the foundation of MODG.
Christopher SebastianHOST
Laura's husband, Marcus Berquist, was a founder of Thomas Aquinas College, and Laura herself was a member of TAC's first graduating class.
Christopher SebastianHOST
Mrs. Berquist has given so much to our school over almost 30 years of existence, or I think we had, this is our 28th or maybe 29th school year so far this year.
Christopher SebastianHOST
And I know that many of you in attendance today are members of our community because of the personal interest and time that Laura took to speak with you about the passion that she has for our students to pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Soren SchwabeHOST
Margaret is the founder and director at Secret Garden Educational Pathways.
Soren SchwabeHOST
Margaret graduated with a bachelor's in liberal arts from Thomas Aquinas College, holds a master's in special education from the University of North Dakota, and will be pursuing a PhD in educational psychology at Baylor this fall.
Soren SchwabeHOST
We're actually recording-- she's recording from, from Waco, Texas, as we speak.
Soren SchwabeHOST
Uh, she was trained in several intervention methods that cover cognitive therapy and literacy intervention.
Soren SchwabeHOST
Wonderful
Margaret WalshGUEST
...
Margaret WalshGUEST
it was amazing, and it, it really set me up for Thomas Aquinas College.
Margaret WalshGUEST
It was a much more gentle approach to classical education than a lot of other schools that I've seen since working-
Christopher SebastianHOST
It was really wonderful.
Christopher SebastianHOST
Mr. Nieto is currently a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, and has been with the college since 1992 after graduating from the TAC class of 1989.
Christopher SebastianHOST
He subsequently received his master's and PhD in philosophy from Notre Dame, and also was a National Science Foundation fellow during his time there.
Christopher SebastianHOST
I myself had the great honor of having him for multiple classes during my time at TAC.
Vic GundotraGUEST
Of course, he never accomplished that.
Vic GundotraGUEST
But today, humankind, mankind, I'm at Thomas Aquinas College, I can say mankind, has exactly done that.
Vic GundotraGUEST
We have taken something that is as prevalent, the most prevalent thing on Earth, sand, And we've turned it into something that's the rarest, the ability to reason and to think.
Vic GundotraGUEST
We've turned silicon into machines that not only can think, but we can talk to.
13 MINS LATER
LucyUNKNOWN
Yeah, I'm right here.
LucyUNKNOWN
What's up, Vic? Hey, Lucy, I'm at
Vic GundotraGUEST
a tech conference in Ojai at Thomas Aquinas College, and I need a favor from you.
Vic GundotraGUEST
I'm at this conference.
Philip LarreyGUEST
So Thomas Aquinas systematically draws on Aristotle's use of act and potency and understands the intellect as both passive in potency to its object of knowledge and active in act with regarding that object.
Philip LarreyGUEST
Now, some people have told me that this is much too in-depth, but this is Thomas Aquinas College.
Philip LarreyGUEST
you're used to this kind of vocabulary.
Philip LarreyGUEST
And so I'm happy to go into that.
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