Abstract
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. 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.
Highlights
As we move forward in the profession of public health, many of the problems presented or exacerbated by the COVID-19 global pandemic may require new solutions and a diversity of thought and approaches to problem solving
The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health found no correlation between Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores and final GPA after public health degree completion at several of its member schools [3]
Seventy percentage of degrees in CEPH accredited programs currently offer at least a temporary GRE waiver, but that percent drops as low as 59% for admissions to biostatistics-specific degree programs (Figure 1A)
Summary
As we move forward in the profession of public health, many of the problems presented or exacerbated by the COVID-19 global pandemic may require new solutions and a diversity of thought and approaches to problem solving. Because of the financial burden and gender & racial/ethnic biases within the test, use of the GRE in public health admissions may create barriers for underrepresented groups. In October 2019, a public health GRE waiver list of degrees/concentrations was created by Jess Millar, an Epidemiology MPH student at University of Michigan [13]. Seventy percentage of degrees in CEPH accredited programs currently offer at least a temporary GRE waiver, but that percent drops as low as 59% for admissions to biostatistics-specific degree programs (Figure 1A). These numbers drop to 33 and 23%, respectively, when only counting permanent waivers. These can and have been used by other disciplines—such as the aforementioned STEM programs–to devise interview questions to help identity characteristics found in successful doctoral researchers and rely less on the GRE [18]
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