USM Announces Temporary Waiver for Graduate School Test Requirements

Fri, 03/27/2020 - 01:22pm | By: Van Arnold

In response to current restrictions created by the COVID-19 health crisis, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) is temporarily waiving requirements for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and the Graduate Records Examinations (GRE) for Graduate School applicants during the summer and fall 2020 admission periods.

Dr. Karen Coats, Dean of USM’s Graduate School, stresses that the University remains sensitive to the challenges people from across the globe face due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Among those challenges are closures of many test centers that typically administer standardized exams in the U.S. and abroad.

“At the Graduate School, we want to ensure that those who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree are not hindered by the inability to sit for the GRE and GMAT due to test center closures,” said Coats.

The test waiver will apply to online, face-to-face, and hybrid programs. Certain programs may not allow the waiver due to accrediting or state and/or federal admission guidelines.

Coats points out that the Graduate School is adding an option for the test of English proficiency requirement for fall applicants. The International Test of English Proficiency (iTEP) currently offers at-home testing, and USM will accept this exam with a score of 4.0 to meet the Graduate School’s English proficiency requirement. Applicants should send a copy of their iTEP results to the Office of International Admissions: intladmissions@usm.edu.

The Graduate Management Admission Test is a computer adaptive test intended to assess certain analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in written English for use in admission to a graduate management program, such as an MBA program.

The Graduate Record Examinations is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States and Canada.