GMAC to waive examination fees for prospective students

GMAC to waive examination fees for prospective students

In response to record numbers of business school applicants last year, the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) has announced it will waive the fee for a limited number of prospective MBA candidates.

Campus-based and online colleges that use the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) to select enrollees will be allowed to choose some students to take the exam free of charge. Because the examination typically costs $250 per students, individuals who require financial aid to attend business school may also need assistance to gain admission.

Under the fee waiver program, participating schools will be able to determine their own criteria for qualifying applicants.

Julia Tyler, executive vice president of member services and school marketing for GMAC, said that the program is a reflection of the organization's "commitment to helping people with talent enter management education, whatever their financial circumstances."

During the 2009 testing period, the GMAT was administered 265,613 times to students from 1,900 schools on six continents - the highest number in the 50-year history of the exam. The test assesses each examinee's verbal and quantitative skills to determine how well they will do in a classroom-based or online MBA program.

By Stefanie Hughes