The GRE in public health admissions: Barriers, waivers, and moving forward

Objective: In the wake of COVID-19, there is an urgent need for a diverse public health work force to address problems presented or exacerbated by the global pandemic. Educational programs that create our work force both train and shape the makeup of access through graduate applications. The Graduate Record Exam has a number of standing issues, with additional barriers created by the pandemic. We trace the GRE waiver movement over several years, focusing on the gradual adoption in CEPH accredited programs and the rapid expansion of temporary waivers as a response to testing access.

Methods: We documented the GRE waiver status for all CEPH accredited program concentrations / degrees on several dates between October 28th, 2019 to September 20th, 2020, including whether a GRE waiver was temporary or permanent.

Results: We found that while GRE waiver use has expanded over 825% in 11 months, the coverage within and between programs is inconsistent. Doctoral degrees and concentrations such as biostatistics lag in the adoption of waivers, temporary or permanent.

Conclusions: Going forward, we need to consider gaps in waivers during the pandemic and how this data can be used to shape our future use of the GRE.