Canisius Sets a New Standard

Becomes first in Western New York to adopt a test-free policy for undergraduate admissions

Story: Audrey R. Browka

It’s 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday when Gianna Perugini’s alarm clock rouses her awake. The junior at J.W. Mitchell High School in Trinity, FL, is scheduled to take the SAT exam this morning – and the anxiety is setting in.

“All the in-state schools I applied to required the submission of standardized test scores so I couldn’t opt out, even though I had an extremely strong college application,” Perugini says.

The standout high school student held a near-perfect grade point average (GPA), successfully completed 13 Advanced Placement (AP) courses, competed on the rowing team and participated in a long list of extracurricular activities.

Still, Perugini worried that “throwing my mediocre SAT score into the mix would hurt my college prospects – more than help.”

Students who apply to Canisius College no longer need to be concerned about such consequences.

Beginning in fall 2024, Canisius will become the first higher education institution in Western New York and one of only two Jesuit institutions in the nation (the other, Loyola New Orleans) to adopt a test-free policy for undergraduate admissions. The change erases all consideration of standardized aptitude tests (SAT and ACT) in an applicant’s evaluation for admission to the college.

“Canisius College is a place where leaders are made and that means, as an institution, we must also lead,” President Steve Stoute said in announcing the test-free initiative. “Standardized tests may have been how things were done but at Canisius, we’re setting a new standard and choosing to redefine the admissions process to better align with our two greatest priorities: our students and our values.”

Overwhelmingly, our research found that the work students do in high school and the grades they earn have much greater predictive power relevant to their success at Canisius versus their scores on standardized tests.

Danielle D. Ianni, PhD, Vice President for Enrollment Management