The Newman Guide: Fulfilling St. John Henry Newman’s Vision for Catholic Education

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The Cardinal Newman Society announces the release of the 2025-2026 edition of The Newman Guide, which recommends elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and graduate programs that fulfill the vision of the newest Doctor of the Church and co-Patron of Catholic education, St. John Henry Newman.

Pope Leo XIV recently declared Newman co-Patron of Catholic education alongside St. Thomas Aquinas, recognizing Newman’s vision for education as the formation of the whole person—intellect, conscience, character, and faith—not merely the transmission of information.

This vision is increasingly unique and comes at a critical time for Catholic families as schools and colleges are assailed by secularization, ideological pressure, and loss of Catholic identity.

For nearly two decades, Catholic families have relied on The Newman Guide to help navigate their college search and discover faithful colleges that begin with the truth of Christ in all subject matter and form the whole person for God as Newman envisioned. However, with the latest edition, families can now find a seamless path of faithful Catholic education from kindergarten through graduate school, safely navigating the many educational options available today.

“The model institutions in The Newman Guide have gone through a rigorous review for compliance with Newman Guide policy and curriculum standards, ensuring fidelity to Catholic teaching and the mission of Catholic education,” said Patrick Reilly, founder of The Newman Guide and expert on Newman.

Obtaining a copy of The 2025-2026 Newman Guide empowers Catholic families to review Catholic schools and colleges with confidence.

To order The Newman Guide in print or request the free e-book version, or to inquire about achieving Newman Guide Recommended status for a school, college, or graduate program, please visit CardinalNewmanSociety.org/Guide.

Newman Guide Colleges Earn A+ Pro-Life Rating

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Catholic colleges recommended in The Newman Guide earned high marks for their pro-life efforts in a new study issued by Students for Life of America’s Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement. Newman Guide Recommended colleges are models for how colleges should promote a pro-life culture on campus.

The Demetree’s study reviewed 725 Christian colleges and evaluated their ties to promoting abortion. The results showed that more than 1 in 7 Christian colleges still promote abortion in some way.

The study included seven colleges that are Newman Guide Recommended. All seven colleges earned “A+” ratings for not only having no pro-abortion ties, but also for promoting pro-life pregnancy help centers.

These colleges are:

  • Ave Maria University (FL)
  • Belmont Abbey College (N.C.)
  • Benedictine College in Atchison (KS)
  • Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH)
  • The Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.)
  • University of Dallas, (TX)
  • University of Mary (N.D.)

You don’t have to look hard to find ways that these colleges teach students about the dignity of all human life and actively live out a pro-life mission. For example, several colleges offer innovative housing, childcare and support for pregnant student mothers, including MiraVia at Belmont Abbey College, the Guadalupe House at Franciscan University of Steubenville, and the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mothers at the University of Mary.

On the other hand, nine Catholic colleges were given an “F” pro-life rating for having four or more ties to abortion. These colleges included:

  • Boston College (MA)
  • Loyola Marymount University (CA)
  • Sacred heart University (CT)
  • Santa Clara University (CA)
  • Seattle University (WA)
  • Catherine University (MN)
  • University of Detroit Mercy (MI)
  • University of San Diego (CA)
  • Villanova University (PA)

At colleges with an “F” listing, ties to abortion are found through internships, job listings, course materials, health resource pages, and more.

For example, at Loyola Marymount, the career and professional development webpage lists employers like Planned Parenthood, Reproductive Freedom for All, and other pro-abortion organizations.

At the University of Detroit Mercy, in the online library for students interested in women and gender studies and reproductive rights, the research guide links to Catholics for Choice, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Students earning their graduate degree in Marital and Family Therapy at the University of San Diego can choose their practicum setting at UCSD Reproductive Medicine, which connects women with abortion services.

The law schools at Catholic colleges on the “F” listing also have problematic ties to abortion. At the law school graduation at Santa Clara University in 2024, the commencement speaker lamented to the Jesuit-educated law students how we are “losing our reproductive rights.” At Seattle University School of Law, there’s a webpage on reproductive justice advocacy that works to “ensure that all people have access to the best reproductive health and attendant legal services possible,” including in the areas of birth control, abortion, and surrogacy. Boston College’s law school is also reported as hosting various events with ties to abortion, including one with speakers from Planned Parenthood to discuss Reproductive Rights in the Constitution.

For families seeking pro-life education, look to Newman Guide Recommended curriculum providers, schools, colleges, and graduate programs.

 

 

‘The Newman Guide’ Now Provides Seamless Path of Faithful Catholic Education

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For the first time, The Newman Guide is recommending elementary schools, secondary schools, and graduate programs in addition to colleges. Families seeking faithful Catholic education can now order the 2025-26 edition in digest-sized print format or request the free digital e-book version.

Catholic families have relied on The Cardinal Newman Society’s Newman Guide for nearly two decades to help navigate the college search and discover faithful colleges that begin with the truth of Christ in all subject matter and form the whole person for God.

With this new edition, families can find a seamless path of faithful Catholic education from kindergarten through graduate school, safely navigating the many educational options available today.

“We used The Newman Guide to find a college for our oldest son. I am thankful we did.  Knowing we can rely on The Newman Guide for his younger siblings to ensure faithful formation and a rigorous intellectual education is a blessing for our family and the entire Church, especially given today’s culture,” said Paul Pagano, a Catholic husband and father of eight, from New Jersey.

The 2025-2026 edition explains the importance of a Newman Guide Recommended education for the formation of young people in faith, virtue, and wisdom. It then recommends 28 elementary and secondary schools, 25 colleges, and 55 graduate programs for faithful Catholic formation.

Kelly Salomon, vice president of Newman Guide Programs at The Cardinal Newman Society, says The Newman Guide’s list of elementary and secondary schools is growing rapidly, as more schools seek the coveted Newman Guide Recommended seal and join the Newman Guide Network to connect with like-minded families and faithful institutions nationwide.

Becoming a Newman Guide Recommended school, college, or graduate program requires a thorough review for compliance with Newman Guide policy and curriculum standards, ensuring fidelity to Catholic teaching and the mission of Catholic education. The Cardinal Newman Society will work with educators who are serious about achieving Newman Guide recognition.

According to Salomon, the Newman Guide standards not only uphold Catholic identity but also protect educators’ religious freedom from legal threats and the influence of false ideology. While there are a wide variety of approaches to Catholic education, the key to The Newman Guide, as Pope Leo XIV says in Drawing New Maps of Hope, is to preserve the central focus on evangelization in fidelity to Catholic teaching and practice.

The Newman Guide Network of education at all levels is swiftly expanding and includes the brightest stars in what Pope Leo calls the Catholic educational “constellation.”

To order The Newman Guide in print or request the free e-book version, click here.

To inquire about achieving Newman Guide Recommended status for a school, college, or graduate program, click here.

Faith, Psychology, and the Human Person: A Catholic Response to the Mental Health Crisis

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Mental health challenges are rising rapidly among young people. How should Catholics respond? In Episode 48 of the Cardinal Newman Society Podcast, host Kevin Murphy continues his conversation with Fr. Charles Sikorsky, President of Divine Mercy University. Together, they explore how sound psychology, grounded in a faithful Catholic understanding of the human person, offers a hopeful and effective response to today’s mental health crisis. Fr. Sikorsky discusses the growing need for well-formed Catholic mental health professionals and the role of faithful education in restoring healing, dignity, and hope.

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Response to Request for Comments on Individual Tax Credit for Qualified Contributions to Scholarship Granting Organizations

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2026 Newman Guide Scholarship Contest Now Open

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The Cardinal Newman Society’s Tenth Annual Scholarship Contest will award one lucky high school student $5,000 to attend a Newman Guide Recommended college, with the potential for up to $15,000 in additional aid from select colleges.

The contest is open to high school juniors and seniors who follow these four simple steps:

  1. Sign up for The Cardinal Newman Society’s Recruit Me program.
  2. Watch a 7-minute video on the advantages of a Newman Guide Recommended college.
  3. Review information about Newman Guide Recommended colleges through the online Newman Guide.
  4. Submit your application with a 3-5 sentence statement explaining your interest in a faithful Catholic education and formation at a Newman Guide Recommended college.

Applications are due by February 17, 2026. All the details about the contest can be found at this link: https://newmansoc.org/Scholarship

The winner will be randomly selected and will receive an initial $5,000 scholarship from The Cardinal Newman Society toward the cost of attending a Newman Guide Recommended college. However, most Newman Guide Recommended colleges have agreed to supplement CNS’s scholarship with additional $5,000 grants per year over the student’s three subsequent years, provided the recipient continues to meet the University’s requirements.

Last year’s scholarship winner, Teresa White, said The Newman Guide really “simplified” her college search. “They did the research and compiled data, which helped me choose to apply to the right universities. Attending an authentically Catholic college is the best investment I can make since it will prepare me for a career while deepening my faith,” she said.

White is just finishing her first semester at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.

“Time is flying by and my first semester at University of Mary is going great!” said White. “My classes are very interesting, and I am constantly meeting amazing people! There have been very fun events throughout the semester, and some of my favorite times have been going to hockey games, listening to the Cappella choir at Sunday night Mass, and going to the brand-new running club.”

Teresa White (second from left) attends a hockey game at the University of Mary.

If you have questions about the 2026 Newman Guide Scholarship Contest, please email us: Programs@CardinalNewmanSociety.org.

The Newman Guide scholarship is made possible thanks to the generosity of Joe and his late wife Ann Guiffre, strong advocates of faithful Catholic education.

The Top 5 of 2025: ‘Newman Guide News’ Stories

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This year, EWTN Catholic Radio invited The Cardinal Newman Society to launch a “Newman Guide News” weekly segment. Host Teresa Tomeo is joined by Kelly Salomon, vice president of Newman Guide programs at The Cardinal Newman Society, every Tuesday at 10:25 a.m. ET to discuss the latest in Catholic education and the Newman Guide difference.

Below are some of the top stories discussed by Tomeo and Salomon in 2025.
While some schools and colleges are leading students astray, Newman Guide Recommended institutions are forming students in faith, virtue and wisdom.

Recordings of the Newman Guide News segments can be heard at this link.

Highs

  • John Henry Newman, whose vision of Catholic education has guided the work of The Cardinal Newman Society for thirty years, was named a Doctor of the Church and Co-Patron of Catholic Education with St. Thomas Aquinas. CNS President Patrick Reilly, an expert on Newman, is speaking across the nation and globe to advance Newman’s arguments for faithful Catholic education. Plus, two new saints were canonized to inspire young Catholics: Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati.
  • Pope Leo XIV released an apostolic letter on Catholic education, Drawing New Maps of Hope, in which he addresses the use of technology in education, arguing that it must “serve, not replace, the person” and that “no algorithm can substitute what makes education human: poetry, irony, love, art, imagination, the joy of discovery and even learning from mistakes as an opportunity for growth.” Newman Guide Recommended schools and colleges, such as Faustina Academy, prioritize the integral formation of the human person in a digital age.
  • Twenty-three states, the NCAA, and the U.S. and International Olympic and Paralympic Committees have banned biological males from participating in women’s sports. Newman Guide Recommended schools and colleges not only keep men out of women’s sports, but also view sports as part of their mission of evangelization and sanctification through virtue development.
  • While many colleges are struggling, Newman Guide Recommended Colleges are flourishing in 2025-26, with many boasting record enrollments while upholding strong Catholic identity.
  • Bill Thierfelder dedicated twenty-one years of faithful service as president of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C. Some of his accomplishments at the college include building an Adoration chapel, opening a home for pregnant unwed mothers from across the country on campus, and championing the integration of sports and faith.

Lows

  • What Emily Torres found at her ‘Catholic’ college will shock you — drag shows, free condoms, pro-abortion activism, and more. She is featured on The Cardinal Newman Society Podcast.
  • The University of Scranton, a Jesuit institution in Pennsylvania, hired Bob Casey, Jr., former U.S. Senator, as its Leahy Distinguished Fellow in Public Service. As a part of his role, Casey will mentor students. Unfortunately, on his campaign website in 2024, Casey is endorsed by the organization Reproductive Freedom for All and is quoted as saying: “Women’s rights are at stake in this election, including access to reproductive health care, IVF, and contraception. The difference between me and my opponent is clear: When Roe v. Wade was overturned, my opponent said it made him very, very happy. I voted for the Women’s Health Protection Act to restore the protections of Roe.”
  • Despite multiple student petitions, the University of Notre Dame continues to allow pornography on campus wi-fi. “This raises a serious question about Notre Dame’s complicity in the spread of a grave evil,” writes the Sycamore Trust.
  • Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., chose Dr. Mary McAleese, a self-professed Catholic and the former President of Ireland who supported the repeal of Ireland’s pro-life amendment in 2018, as commencement speaker in 2025. Dr. McAleese has publicly supported same-sex marriage and is quoted as saying that a Church hierarchy that is “homophobic and anti-abortion is not the Church of the future.”
  • Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the oldest Catholic university in the country, recently announced a new president who has publicly expressed his rejection of Church teaching on homosexuality. “Of course, I reject the Church’s teachings on homosexuality, so I would favor an even easier way out by treating committed gay relationships as morally valuable,” wrote Eduardo M. Peñalver, J.D., for Commonweal in 2014. He was responding to a situation that involved an administrator at a Catholic school entering into a same-sex marriage. “I take inspiration in my own marriage from the committed gay couples I have known.”

For families seeking a pathway to faithful Catholic education, explore the home and school curriculum providers, schools, colleges and graduate programs that are Newman Guide Recommended.

Ep. 47: Faith, Psychology, and Healing the Human Person with Fr. Charles Sikorsky

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Mental health challenges are rising rapidly among young people. How should Catholics respond? In this episode of the Cardinal Newman Society Podcast, host Kevin Murphy speaks with Fr. Charles Sikorsky, President of Divine Mercy University, about integrating sound psychology with a faithful Catholic understanding of the human person. Fr. Sikorsky explains the mission of Divine Mercy University, the growing need for Catholic mental health professionals, and how faithful education helps bring healing and hope to a culture in crisis.

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Ep. 46: A Father’s Sacrifice & the Power of Faithful Catholic Education with Chris VanderWoude

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What is faithful Catholic education really worth? For airline pilot and father of seven Thomas VanderWoude, it meant moving his family so his sons could attend authentically Catholic schools. It also meant giving his life to save his youngest son with Down syndrome. In this moving episode of the Cardinal Newman Society Podcast, host Kevin Murphy talks with Chris about his family’s commitment to Catholic education, the generational impact of those choices,, and the emerging cause for sainthood for his father.

Click here to watch on YouTube