Redeemer University College has partnered with the Classical Learning Test (CLT) to offer an alternative standardized test for the admission of undergraduate students. Redeemer is one of the first Canadian institutions to both accept the test scores for admission, but also serve as a test centre for prospective students.

By adopting the CLT as an alternative standardized test, Redeemer will provide both home educated students and American students an alternative test option for admission. The CLT aims to bridge the disconnect between curriculum and test that is often experienced by students, particularly those who have followed a classical or home school curriculum.

The CLT was developed in 2015 by an organization called Classic Learning Initiatives, whose mission reads:
“Classic Learning Initiatives exists as a small component of a much larger contemporary endeavor to repair the rupture between intellectual pursuit and virtue. The ancient Greek philosophers stressed the same basic ideas about education that homeschool parents and classical school educators affirm today. How students learn to think, what they read, and how they live are all intricately connected. Mainstream education in America is failing because the pursuit of virtue, as classically understood, has been lost.”

The CLT is quickly gaining traction and the list of institutions accepting the exam for admission is growing — especially at liberal arts institutions like Redeemer. Redeemer sees the value in an entrance exam that tests more than just a student’s intellectual preparedness for university, as its Christian liberal arts education aims to do the same — prepare students broadly and deeply to be difference-makers in today’s rapidly changing, globalized world. In 2016, Redeemer renewed this commitment to being a liberal arts institution when it launched its new Core Curriculum. Similar to the CLT, the core curriculum at Redeemer seeks to close the gap between what we know and how we live.