The Validity of the Graduate Record Examination for Master’s and Doctoral Programs: A Meta-Analytic Investigation

Abstract

Extensive research has examined the effectiveness of admissions tests for use in higher education. What has gone unexamined is the extent to which tests are similarly effective for predicting performance at both the master's and doctoral levels. This study empirically synthesizes previous studies to investigate whether or not the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) predicts the performance of students in master's programs as well as the performance of doctoral students. Across nearly 100 studies and 10,000 students, this study found that GRE scores predict first year grade point average (GPA), graduate GPA, and faculty ratings well for both master's and doctoral students, with differences that ranged from small to zero.

Investigating approaches to diversity in a national survey of physics doctoral degree programs: The graduate admissions landscape

“…The predictive validity of admission criteria is often understood by examining how admission criteria are correlated with such outcomes. The most commonly discussed admission criteria are GRE scores, which have been found to be positively correlated to first-year graduate GPA and success in qualifying exams in a range of fields [20][21][22] and are often presented as being a measure of undergraduate content knowledge. Nonetheless, GRE scores are much more weakly related to outcomes like citations counts and research products [20,23], and time-todegree [19,24].…”

Assessing Admission Criteria for Early and Mid-Career Students: Evidence from a U.S. MPA Program

“…There is an extensive literature that has both supported and questioned the predictive validity of quantitative data gathered from tests such as the GRE, MAT, and GMAT (Brink, 1999;Clark, 1984;Hartle et al, 1983;House, 1994;Kuncel & Hezlett, 2010;Kuncel et al, 2010;Oldfield & Hutchinson, 1996;Sampson & Boyer, 2001;Sireci & Talento-Miller, 2006;Sternberg & Williams, 1997;Zwick, 1993). Although ETS suggests that GRE test scores can be interpreted in such a way as to provide an adequate indicator of graduate students' likelihood of success, the evidence is not conclusive (Kuncel & Hezlett, 2007;Kuncel et al, 2010;Milner, McNeil, & King, 1984).…”

“…Although ETS suggests that GRE test scores can be interpreted in such a way as to provide an adequate indicator of graduate students' likelihood of success, the evidence is not conclusive (Kuncel & Hezlett, 2007;Kuncel et al, 2010;Milner, McNeil, & King, 1984). For MPA programs specifically, Bowman (1988) concluded from an examination of NASPAA accreditation studies that the "GRE is not a powerful predictor of success since it delivers an average accuracy or percentage of perfect prediction of 11.9 percent for first year graduate school grades" (p. 867).…”

“…Research, however, has yet to fully examine which admission criteria are related to the academic success of mid-career students. Studies that have focused on graduate admission criteria and academic success either have not distinguished between early and mid-career students or have only examined one aspect of the admission package (usually standardized test scores) when comparing early and mid-career students (Gibson, Leavitt, Lombard, & Morris, 2007;Kuncel, Wee, Serafin, & Hezlett, 2010;Leavitt, Lombard, & Morris, 2011;Menifield et al, 2007). As a result, no research (of which we are aware) has comprehensively examined whether commonly used admission criteria for graduate programs are equally valid for early and mid-career students.…”

Establishing an Equitable and Fair Admissions System for an Online Doctoral Program

“…Though the GRE is not a perfect indicator of performance in graduate studies and has its share of valid critics (see "Estimating the effect," 1998; Jaschik, 2007;Scheuneman, 1985), research suggests it is an effective predictor of student success in graduate school (Burton & Wang, 2005;Fu, 2012;Kuncel et al, 2010). According to Kuncel et al (2010), the exam is "effective for admission decision making for both master's-and doctoral-level work and should be incorporated in the application process for both degree levels. Specifically, the GRE has both a comparable and useful predictive validity for master'sand doctoral-level programs" (p. 347).…”