Canisius University: merit scholarships by GPA
Canisius University awards automatic merit aid from a published grid keyed to GPA — the ACT is not used. Awards start at a 83.0 GPA and reach $24,200 a year. Because the bands are steps rather than a slope, a hundredth of a GPA point is worth nothing inside a band and the whole step at the edge of one.
Enter a GPA below to see which band it actually lands in, what that band pays, and what the next band needs.
Read this first
The GPA is a 100-point average counted from freshman through junior year, so a strong senior year cannot move it, and whether it is weighted is not stated. The published windows are whole numbers with gaps between them — 96-97 then 98-100 — so how a fractional average such as 97.5 is placed is not published. Canisius also calls the award "a comprehensive evaluation of your application" while listing exact GPA windows, so the two sit in tension. Whether the $1,000 Visit and Apply Scholarship is annual or stacks is unclear.
Out of 100, the way New York high schools report it — which is how this school publishes its grid.
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Example — a 3.60 GPA
No automatic award at this combination
A 29 with a 3.60 GPA does not reach the published grid. That is not a verdict on admission — only on automatic merit.
Canisius awards this on GPA alone, so an ACT score does not change it. A higher score can still matter for admission, for honours programmes, and at other schools on the list — but not for this award.
The ACT doesn't move the money here — but it still decides admission, honours eligibility, and what they is worth at the other schools on the list, where most awards are score-keyed.
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The published Canisius merit aid grid
Reproduced in full from Canisius University’s own pages for the current cycle. Nothing here is estimated: where the school states a benefit rather than a figure, that is what the table says.
Freshman academic scholarships
Notified with the admissions decision letter. The GPA counts freshman through junior year. Renewable for four years.
$24,200
Ignatian Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 98.00
$23,200
Trustee's Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 96.00
$22,200
Peter Canisius Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 93.00
$20,200
Magis Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 90.00
$16,200
Dean's Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 87.00
$13,200
Benefactor Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 85.00
$9,200
Academic Scholarship
No score needed · GPA 83.00
| Award | With a score | No score | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ignatian Scholarship | — | GPA 98.00 | $24,200 |
| Trustee's Scholarship | — | GPA 96.00 | $23,200 |
| Peter Canisius Scholarship | — | GPA 93.00 | $22,200 |
| Magis Scholarship | — | GPA 90.00 | $20,200 |
| Dean's Scholarship | — | GPA 87.00 | $16,200 |
| Benefactor Scholarship | — | GPA 85.00 | $13,200 |
| Academic Scholarship | — | GPA 83.00 | $9,200 |
Source: Freshmen scholarships · verified 2026-10-25
Does Canisius superscore for scholarships?
No. Irrelevant — Canisius refuses to read scores for admission or for merit.
This matters more than it sounds. A student whose superscore crosses a band but whose best single sitting does not will be paid on the lower band. Look up your best single sitting in the grid above, then find what is costing you points on one test.
Comparing schools? See which colleges superscore for scholarships — 66 of 501 commit to it, 52 say they do not, and the rest never say.
Canisius scholarship deadlines
| Entry term | Due |
|---|---|
| Priority consideration (decision and scholarship notice by early December) | November 1 |
| Special scholarship applications | January 19 |
Scores take roughly two to four weeks to arrive, and official reports sent to schools can take longer, so the last useful test date is several weeks before the printed deadline. Check which test dates still make it.
Where these numbers came from
Every figure on this page was read from Canisius University’s own published pages, linked below with the date we last confirmed them. We do not estimate a missing band or interpolate a value.
- Seven rungs, from $24,200 at a 98 average down to $9,200 at an 83.
- Canisius is test-free: scores are not read for admission or for merit.
- From a 98 to a 90 the award falls only $4,000; from an 85 to an 83 it falls $4,000 again.
- The 88-to-90 step is the decisive one, worth $4,000 a year.
- The GPA counts freshman through junior year, so a strong senior year cannot move it.
- The windows are whole numbers with gaps, so a 97.5 average has no published placement.
- Awards are notified with the admissions decision letter.
- A $1,000 Visit and Apply Scholarship is listed for all applicants.
- The Hassett Creative Writing, Lee Foundation, MLK, Music, Studio Art and Urban Leadership awards all require an application, so none is a band.
- Those competitive awards run from $1,500 up to full tuition.
Check before you rely on it. Grids change by entry year and schools update them without notice. This page is a reproduction with a date on it, not a guarantee, and it is not financial aid advice. ClutchACT is not affiliated with Canisius University.
Frequently asked questions
What ACT score do you need for a scholarship at Canisius?
Canisius University publishes a merit aid grid keyed to ACT score and GPA. See the tables on this page for the current bands.
Is Canisius test-optional?
Test-free rather than test-optional: a submitted score is not read for admission at all. For merit aid the answer is different: the same sentence covers the money. A retake is worth nothing here, which is a cleaner answer than most schools give. Being admitted without a score and qualifying for money without a score are two separate questions.
Does Canisius superscore the ACT for scholarships?
No. Irrelevant — Canisius refuses to read scores for admission or for merit.
When are Canisius scholarship deadlines?
Priority consideration (decision and scholarship notice by early December): November 1. Special scholarship applications: January 19. The application and the official score report are both due by that date, and ACT scores take roughly two to four weeks to arrive — so the last useful test date is several weeks earlier than the deadline suggests.
Is this Canisius scholarship data current?
Every figure on this page was read from Canisius University's own published pages and last verified on 2026-10-25. The sources are linked at the bottom of the page with that date. Grids change by entry year, so check the source before relying on a figure for a decision.
Other schools to check
What to do next
Canisius awards on GPA — but the ACT still decides what you're worth elsewhere.
Most schools in this comparison are score-keyed even though Canisius is not, so the same test still moves the money everywhere else on the list.
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