According to data for our 2026 online MBA ranking, fewer programs require GMAT or GRE scores for admission, and fewer students are submitting them.
Five years after the pandemic disrupted MBA admissions, GMAT and GRE requirements for online programs appear to be a lasting casualty.
In our 2020 ranking of the Best Online MBA Programs In the U.S. – one cycle before COVID-19 started to really mess with admission cycles – 30 of 35 ranked programs (85.7%) submitted GMAT scores as part of our data collection. For our 2026 ranking, just 24 of 61 ranked programs submitted a test score for consideration in our ranking methodology. That’s less than 40%.
In fact, just 17 of 61 schools we ranked for 2026 (27.9%) now require a GMAT or GRE as a part of a candidate’s application. Several of those also offer test waivers for things like work experience, exceptional undergrad GPAs, quantitative proficiency, and terminal degrees like an MD.
While they may no longer be required, we believe GMAT and GRE scores to still be a meaningful admission signal. And, many programs still accept test scores for students who want to beef up their applications and improve their chances of admission.
FEWER STUDENTS SUBMIT TEST SCORES
Fewer students are likewise reporting test scores as part of their applications, according to school-submitted data for Poets&Quants‘ ninth annual ranking of the best online MBAs in the U.S.
Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business (ranked No. 6 overall for 2026) had the highest percentage of students submitting either a GMAT or GRE score as part of their application. But that was still only 24% – 14% of entering students submitted GMAT scores and 10% submitted GRE scores. Another 20% of applicants had tests waived because they had 10 or more years of work experience. For our 2020 ranking, 83% of Tepper students submitted GMAT scores as part of their applications (we did not collect GRE data for that ranking.)
According to its website, Tepper School requires either a GMAT, GMAT Focus, GRE, or Executive Assessment (EA) with “extensive quantitative academic coursework” and/or work experience in a STEM-related field. But, it also says it will grant test waivers on a case-by-case basis.
Following Tepper, Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business reported the next highest percentage of students submitted test scores at 20%.
Just seven ranked programs had 10% or more students report a GMAT or GRE for admission this year, compared to 17 programs in 2020 when we only ranked 35. Just 4 of 57 schools had at least 10% of admitted students report GMAT scores in the 2025 ranking, compared to 4 of 51 schools for 2024, 14 of 50 schools for 2023, and 13 of 52 schools for 2022.
With fewer schools reporting, it makes it harder for meaningful comparisons. The chart below shows schools with the highest combined percentage of students who reported either a GMAT or GRE score as part of their admission application.
Percentage Of Students Reporting GMAT/GRE |
||||||
2025 RANK |
School |
Average GMAT |
% Reporting GMAT |
Average GRE |
% Reporting GRE |
Total % Reporting Test Scores |
| 6 | Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | 704 | 14% | 322 | 10.0% | 24.0% |
| 30 | Texas Tech University (Rawls) | 558 | 13% | 310 | 7.0% | 20.0% |
| 2 | University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal) | 579 | 4% | 311 | 14.0% | 18.0% |
| 15 | Villanova University | 584 | 5.08% | 313 | 8.5% | 13.6% |
| 4 | University of Washington (Foster) | 664 | 5.26% | 157 | 5.3% | 10.5% |
| 58 | University of Houston (Bauer) | 645 | 5% | 307 | 5.0% | 10.0% |
| 3 | University of Michigan (Ross) | 694 | 6% | 317 | 4.0% | 10.0% |
| 27 | University of South Florida (Muma) | 593 | 1% | 306 | 6.0% | 7.0% |
HOW GMAT FIGURES IN OUR OMBA RANKING
Because of this decline, test scores play a smaller role in our ranking methodology. We consider them as part of our Admission Standards category which also includes the metrics of admission rate, undergraduate GPA, and years of work experience. Admission Standards accounts for 33% of the final score in our ranking.
Before the pandemic, 50% of the Admissions Standards scores were based on a school’s average adjusted GMAT score – a calculation accounting for the school’s average score as well as the percentage of students who submitted test scores and those who had scores waived because they had 10 or more years of work experience.
With few schools now requiring the scores, and fewer students submitting them, we reduced the weight of the GMAT score from 50% down to 20% three years ago. Last year, we further reduced the metric to 10% of the Admission Standard score while also including GRE scores into our calculations.
We at P&Q still consider GMAT and GRE scores a robust measure of admission standards and so our methodology continues to reward schools that report test stats.
Next Page: All average reported GMAT & GRE scores at 61 ranked OMBA programs