As Of Today, Canisius College No Longer Exists In Buffalo

It's going to take a while for this to really sink in, especially if you're an alumnus, but as of today, Canisius College no longer exists in Buffalo.

Today marks the end of an era and the beginning of something brand new.  Canisius College as we've known it in Buffalo is ceasing to exist.  From here on out, it will be known as Canisius University.

Canisius College becomes Canisius University

The announcement was made at the end of April of 2023 that Canisius had petitioned the New York State Education Department (NYSED) Board of Regents for university designation and had been granted that designation.

We’re pleased that our name will more closely reflect how we view ourselves — as a comprehensive university with a breadth of excellent academic programs. I am grateful to all of our dedicated faculty and staff whose hard work made this possible.” - Canisius President Steve K. Stoute.

The deadline for the title to become official was August 1st.

What's the difference between a college and a university?

So why is it a big deal?  Why does it matter what their name is?

According to US News & World Report, the difference is that in general, colleges are normally smaller institutions that emphasize undergraduate education.  They are often liberal arts schools that offer a wide range of academic areas instead of more specialized focuses.

Universities, on the other hand, are often larger schools that focus more on research and on both undergraduate and graduate programs.

However, there are a lot of generalizations with those definitions.  For example, some colleges do still focus on providing research, and not all universities are huge.