University Benchmarks

Ranking the Top 100 Academic Universities

UniversityBenchmarks.com ranks the universities that attract and produce the best academic students.

There are many 'University Rankings' on the internet. Most rankings rely heavily on subjective metrics like 'reputation' and 'selectivity'. UniversityBenchmarks is purely an academic ranking model. The rankings are based on the reported academic and financial metrics of the colleges. There are no subjective factors like 'reputation' that are used. The calculations are performed using normal statistical models. All universities are considered equal and there is no weighting of the ranking categories.

The university 2014-2015 dataset is comprised of over 2400 US Universities & Colleges and comes from multiple sources using the most favorable reported metrics for a university.

The universities are ranked against each other in each filtered set. It is an iterative process whereby lower ranking universities are removed and the set is re-ranked until the final set of 100 is reached.

Selecting 'Rank Top 10 Only' will show the Top 10 for each filter category ranked against each other.

The academic rankings of the universities within the major conferences (ACC, Big12, Big10, Pac12, SEC) are available.

The 2017 rankings will be available in August.

Notes:
  • It is possible for universities to be ranked higher/lower than one another depending on the filter set.
  • Conference averages are based on the top 8 schools in the conference.
  • Public Schools are highlighted
  • Clicking on the university's seal icon will take you to the university's website.

Ranking Fields

Rank - Overall rank based on the average of the ranking fields (Scores, Difficulty, Smartest, Brainpower, Faculty and Research).

Scores - SAT & ACT scores. The university's test scores are corrected for dropout rate when score level is Good, Excellent or Elite. This will slightly boost scores for highly competitive schools.

Difficulty - Academic rigor is estimated based on how difficult it is to get an "A" at the university. An estimated GPA at the university is calculated for the average US Student. University grade inflation, average GPA, and STEM density are factors.

Smartest - University that can field the highest scoring students based on the average US University size. Higher Smartest Rank = "Smartest for the Average University"

Brainpower - The average "smartest" rank using 5 reference populations (CalTech, MIT, Stanford, GaTech and Berkeley). Higher Brainpower Rank = "Higher Density of Smart Students". The university ranked higher can mathematically field 'X' number of smarter students than universities ranked below them.

Faculty - Ranking based on number of % of faculty with awards and academy membership.

Research - Ranking is achieved by iteratively ranking the average of 3 research metrics (r-pop, r-stem, r-other ). The lowest ranked college is then removed and the new set is re-ranked. The result is the schools with potentially the strongest research environments per student bubble up to the top regardless of size or research budget.

  • r-pop - Average research spending for student population
  • r-stem - STEM research spending
  • r-other - Other/Medical/Health research spending

Salary ROI - "Salary Return on Investment" is not used in the overall ranking but is provided for additional information. Using the undergraduate average starting and mid-career salaries, the rank is based on a 20yr salary accumulation (with raises) minus the cost of a 4 year education at the university. Salaries are normalized across the country using the average COLA for the university's geo-economic region (7 regions total). The COLA effect is diminished by the level of the university. Elite, Excellent and Good universities have a greater distribution of graduates across the country and a diminishing COLA effect. The resultant value would be the graduate's spending potential over the 20yr period.

Overall ROI - "Overall Return on Investment" is not used in the overall ranking but is provided for additional information. The average of Overall Rank and Salary ROI. This would be the "Best academic bang for the buck". Colleges that produce the best education, at the best price, with the best return will be ranked higher.

Color Key - ranks are colorized as follows 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 50 100

The 2016 University Academic Rankings

Thomas Aquinas College

2016 University Academic Rankings
Thomas Aquinas College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college offering a single integrated academic program. It is located in Santa Paula, California in Ventura County. It offers a unique education with courses based on the Great Books and seminar method. It has school accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, a regional accrediting board for California and Guam. It is endorsed by The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College.

Academics

As a matter of principle, to ensure the institution's autonomy, the school does not accept any direct government funding; neither does it receive funding from the Catholic Church. Rather, it offers need-based scholarships funded by the private donations of individuals and foundations.

Rankings

In 2012, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni included Thomas Aquinas College in its What Will They Learn? study, which is an annual evaluation system of colleges and universities. The report assigns a letter grade to 1,070 universities based on how many of the following seven core subjects are required: composition, literature, foreign language, American history, economics, mathematics and science. Thomas Aquinas College was one of 21 schools to receive an "A" grade, which is assigned to schools that include at least six of the seven designated subjects in their core curriculum.

Curriculum

Thomas Aquinas offers one degree, a bachelor of arts in liberals arts. This is an integrated liberal arts curriculum made up primarily of the Great Books of the Western Tradition, with order of learning emphasized in the structure of the curriculum. Much of the first two years of the 4-year program is devoted to the Trivium (logic, rhetoric, and grammar) and the Quadrivium (geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music.) Natural science, philosophy, and theology are studied all four years. Papers are assigned in the various subject areas throughout the year; fourth year students produce a senior thesis, and defend it before a panel of faculty members.

The college replaces textbooks with original sources, the seminal works in all the major disciplines. Thomas Aquinas College acknowledges that not all texts in their program are of equal weight. They regard some as masterworks and others as sources of opinions that "either lead students to the truth, or make the truth more evident by opposition to it." Students read some texts in their entirety and only excerpts from others.

The college's St. Vincent de Paul Lecture and Concert Series complements its regular academic program, providing events at least once a month during the academic year.

Student life

The school has a club soccer team that plays in a Ventura County league. There is also an intramural sports program offering soccer, tennis, football, and volleyball on the school's courts.

The St. Genesius players produce one play a year, commonly a selection from Shakespeare. The College Choir presents an annual concert and a spring musical, often a production of Gilbert and Sullivan. It sings at Sunday Mass and special events. Another student choir and various instrumentalists and vocalists in the student body provide informal recitals throughout the year, at formal and informal events.

Unmarried students are housed on-campus in six dormitories. Married students may live off-campus. Men's and women's residence halls are off-limits to members of the opposite sex.

Chapel

As the “crown jewel" of the Thomas Aquinas College campus, Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel was dedicated on March 7, 2009. The design for this 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2), $23 million building employs Early Christian, Renaissance, and Spanish M ... [more on wikipedia]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Thomas Aquinas College", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

Thomas Aquinas College Details

Thomas Aquinas College Details
detail value
stateCalifornia
conferenceNo Conference Affiliation
publicPrivate
scores1880/1253/28
levelGood
rank[223
overall ROI rank[243
sizetiny
undergrads378
grads0
price35706
drop30
stem0
research0
scores validTrue
Common Questions...

What are the academic rankings for Thomas Aquinas College?

1. number 223 for Academics.

2. number 243 for ROI (Return on Investment).

What universities are similar to Thomas Aquinas College?


National Academic Rankings

(summary of all ranking placements)

Thomas Aquinas College National Academic Rankings

Thomas Aquinas College National Academic Rankings
category rank scores difficulty smartest brainpower faculty research salary ROI overall ROI
Top250223106136238248153159225243
West Coast Region361618755228265442
State of California271315563720183330
Top Ten Top250223106136238248153159225243


Peer Universities / Similar Universities

(mathematically similar student body, size, academics, stem, salary... etc)

Thomas Aquinas College Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Thomas Aquinas College

Thomas Aquinas College Peer Universities, Similar Universities to Thomas Aquinas College
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI


Academic Peer Universities / Similar Academics

(mathematically similar academics)

Thomas Aquinas College Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Thomas Aquinas College

Thomas Aquinas College Academic Peer Universities, Similar Academic Universities to Thomas Aquinas College
match image university state conference public level rank overall ROI
98.17
Muhlenberg CollegePennsylvaniaCentennial ConferencePrivateGood223217
95.46
Union UniversityTennesseeGulf South ConferencePrivateGood225213
93.53
University of Puget SoundWashingtonNorthwest ConferencePrivateGood227223
91.16
Grove City CollegePennsylvaniaPresidents' Athletic ConferencePrivateAboveAverage235202
90.02
Gustavus Adolphus CollegeMinnesotaMinnesota Intercollegiate Ath ConfPrivateAboveAverage239210
89.62
University of North Carolina at AshevilleNorth CarolinaBig South ConferencePublicAboveAverage242319
88.83
Hope CollegeMichiganMichigan Intercollegiate Athle...PrivateAboveAverage244227
88.69
Belmont UniversityTennesseeOhio Valley ConferencePrivateAboveAverage246291
88.10
Salisbury UniversityMarylandEmpire Eight / Capital Athleti...PublicAboveAverage243358
87.74
University of North Carolina WilmingtonNorth CarolinaColonial Athletic AssociationPublicAboveAverage221228
87.69
University of San FranciscoCaliforniaWest Coast ConferencePrivateAboveAverage226241
86.37
Colonial Athletic Association (Low)-Colonial Athletic Association-Conf-AboveAverage-214
86.37
College of CharlestonSouth CarolinaColonial Athletic AssociationPublicAboveAverage219233
83.47
University of North FloridaFloridaAtlantic Sun ConferencePublicAboveAverage219214
83.13
University of Massachusetts-LowellMassachusettsAmerica EastPublicAboveAverage247275
81.35
University of New HampshireNew HampshireColonial Athletic Association ...PublicAverage221225
79.97
Mid - American Conference (Average)-Mid American Conference-Conf-AboveAverage-185
73.56
Washington State UniversityWashingtonPacific 12 ConferencePublicAverage189193