Graduate schools in both Brown University and Princeton University have taken steps in scrapping Graduate Record Examination (GRE) tests. The move was decided by departments through a vote overseen by the two universities.
The GRE will no longer be a requirement in Brown University when applying for its graduate programs. The move was announced on Friday as part of structural changes being made in the university’s admission criteria. 24 graduate programs will be affected by this move.
Brown University is following in the footsteps of Princeton University, which last month had a similar restructuring where it scrapped GRE requirements which affected 14 departments. Both schools let departments decide independently on their own. They did this by allowing them to vote in which direction they should go. A lot of departments scrapped the GRE tests altogether.
Effect of this move on graduate schools
The move to scrap these tests, however, has been met with opposition with many people arguing that the quality of education will be lowered. Opponents of this move argue that scrapping is downgrading the graduate schools and tainting their credibility as institutions of higher education through merit.
Critics, however, are optimistic that this move will provide broader access to all demographics and they will do this without lowering the current quality of the education system.
Brown University has released a list of the departments that will drop GRE: humanities fields (English, French studies, German studies) and sciences (biotechnology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, computer science). This move they have argued will improve the outreach and diversity in their education system.
In the last two years, graduate schools in universities have been taking steps in scrapping GRE tests in their departments. Some of the most notable institution to have taken these steps includes the English department at Cornell University and Harvard University, Philosophy Department at the University of Pennsylvania and also the History Department at Yale University.
GRE testing will continue receiving opposition from different institutions in the coming years. The organization responsible for these tests, however, has stated that it expects these developments but has made it clear that they are gaining new grounds such as in law school admissions.
