title: The effect of the graduate record examination on minority applications: experience at New York Institute of Technology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to determine if requiring the graduate record exam (GRE) had an effect on minority applications submitted to New York Institute of Technology's (NYIT) physician assistant (PA) program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Minorities applying from 2008-2011 were identified by the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA). Data was obtained from two application cycles before and after the GRE was made an admissions requirement. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Despite the CASPA pool of minority applicants remaining stable NYIT's pool of Black/African American applicants decreased substantially from 8.6% to 4.8% after the GRE was added to our admissions criteria. This resulted in a 44.1% decrease in NYIT's pool of Black/African American applicants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adopting the GRE as part of our admissions criteria appears to have created an additional barrier for minority applicants, specifically Black/African American applicants. Every program should question whether or not the benefit of the GRE as an academic predictor outweighs the negative effect it may have on their program's minority application pool. Using the GRE as part of the admissions process appears to be a potential barrier and may result in greater ethnic disparity as more programs adopt its use.
authors.affiliation: New York Institute of Technology, Department of Physician Assistant Studies, Riland Center Suite 352, Northern Boulevard, PO Box 8000, Old Westbury, NY 11568-8000, USA. Tel 516-686-3881. cwolf01@nyit.edu.
authors.forename: Corri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009518:New York; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000193:education*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012570:School Admission Criteria / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*