Thomas Aquinas College Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
- Private nonprofit college
- Santa Paula, CA
- About 102 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Thomas Aquinas College liberal arts and general studies graduates earn about what liberal arts and general studies graduates earn nationally, $33,432 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $18,000 in federal loans, less than at 90% of liberal arts and general studies programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying liberal arts and general studies degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Thomas Aquinas College graduates earn about the national figure but about $6,429 less than the California median. Several California programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every California liberal arts and general studies program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 47% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $5,212 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $191 a month, or 6.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
33% of graduates (35 of 106) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Oxnard area are about 11% above the national average, so a $33,432 salary here buys what about $30,246 buys in a typical US city.
About Thomas Aquinas College
Liberal Arts and General Studies is the only bachelor's program at Thomas Aquinas College that reports first-year earnings.
Other liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs near Santa Paula
Common questions
The median graduate earns $33,432 one year after graduating and $49,029 five years after. The median across liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs in California is $30,619.
The median federal loan balance is $18,000, which ranks 22nd lowest of 34 liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $191 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 54% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 73%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Many leave. 33% (35 of 106) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the liberal arts and general studies program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024