Statements

Mission

Aquinas College is a Catholic institution of higher education in the Dominican tradition. The College directs all its efforts to the intellectual, moral, spiritual, and professional formation of the human person in wisdom. Students are formed individually and in Christian community so that the harmonious integration between faith and reason can permeate every dimension of their lives. Immersed in exploring the relationship between human civilization and the message of salvation, the College community embraces the Dominican imperative to preach the Gospel, serve others, and engage culture in truth and charity.

Background

The founding of Aquinas College in 1961 was the realization of a long-held dream of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia of Nashville, Tennessee: to have a place where the newest members of the religious community could receive their initial degrees to serve in the community's teaching apostolate. Over the years, this fundamental mission has remained, even as the sisters have continually found ways to serve the educational, professional, and catechetical needs of the Nashville community and beyond.

Since their founding in 1860, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation have been devoted to the apostolate of teaching. In order to provide professional preparation for the sisters, the Congregation established St. Cecilia Normal School in 1928. In 1929, the St. Cecilia Normal School became the first institution of its kind to be affiliated with The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

In 1961, St. Cecilia Congregation opened Aquinas Junior College, which assumed the purpose of the Normal School. Two significant milestones in the institution's history occurred at this point: the College was established at its present location on The Dominican Campus, and it was opened to the public. The first students in the fall of 1961 included 50 nursing students from St. Thomas School of Nursing, 13 sisters, and five lay women. In 1962, Aquinas Junior College became co-educational.

In 1971, the College was granted accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the Associate degree. In 1994, Aquinas Junior College changed its status to a four-year college when approval was given to offer a bachelor's degree in education. In 2012, Aquinas College received approval to offer Master's degrees in education.

In addition to the current array of offerings in teacher preparation programs, past programs in nursing and other health care fields, business and law enforcement represented the College's response to the permanent and changing educational needs of the Nashville community and beyond. Sensitivity to the Church's urgent need for well-formed educators has prompted to College to focus all of its resources on the preparation of teachers at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Along with educating the young sisters of the Congregation, the College continues to provide area schools with lay teachers who have been prepared with a strong spiritual and professional foundation.

Impact

Aquinas recently completed a strategic planning process which resulted in a 2019-2025 focused strategy for the College. The College adopted four strategic goals:
1. Academic Life: The program of studies at Aquinas College will form students to be educators who allow Truth and Charity to transform their own lives and the lives of those they will serve.
2. Student Experience: Aquinas College will provide a strong educational community that integrates the human, spiritual, intellectual, and professional formation of all students.
3. Service to the Broader Community: Aquinas College will serve the broader community through academic and institutional initiatives and through the work of the Center for Catholic Education and the Center for Evangelization and Catechesis.
4. Advancing the Mission: Aquinas College will implement plans to steward and develop its unique gifts and resources in order to advance its mission.

In addition, we have set the following organizational goals:
1. Provide academic programs in education and in the liberal arts that foster the intellectual and moral virtues, professional excellence, and integration of faith and life.
2. Provide services and support that facilitate academic progress, inquiry, and achievement.
3. Cultivate a student experience directed toward the formation of the whole person in virtue, wisdom, maturity, and Christian friendship through social, spiritual, and academic activities.
4. Provide opportunities to engage with the local and broader communities, especially in endeavors related to cultural and intellectual interests, continuing education, catechetics, and faith formation.
5. Steward the gifts and resources entrusted to the College to advance its mission.

Over the years, our fundamental mission has remained, as the sisters have continually found ways to be of service to the educational and catechetical needs of the Nashville community and beyond. Today, Aquinas College academic programs and service to the broader community focus on education: preparing students to be teachers and leaders in schools and communities, and providing ongoing formation opportunities for teachers, leaders, and catechists already engaged in these important works.

Needs

Faith formation for Catholic school educators is a major priority of North American Catholic Bishops. Recently, Aquinas College surveyed internal and external constituencies to identify areas of greatest need in Catholic education and catechesis and determine how Aquinas College might be uniquely situated to respond to those needs. Overwhelmingly, the data collected through surveys, interviews, and focus groups identified faith formation and leadership development as paramount needs. The findings challenged Aquinas College to cultivate relationships that allow for the mutual sharing of gifts in service of Catholic education, while making academic and ongoing formation programs affordable and accessible.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Education  - Higher Education
Secondary Category:	Religion- Related  - Roman Catholic
Tertiary Category:	Youth Development  - Youth Development-Religious Leadership

Areas Served

National