Coleman-Salgado Bryan, Moore Brian
Bryan Coleman-Salgado is the professor at the California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, MS 6020, Sacramento, CA 95819 (
Brian Moore is the associate professor at the California State University, Sacramento.
J Phys Ther Educ. 2025 Mar 1;39(1):5-13. doi: 10.1097/JTE.0000000000000360. Epub 2024 Jul 16.
A growing number of graduate-level health professions education programs in the United States are discontinuing the use of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in their admissions requirements amidst concerns that its use puts Underrepresented Racial Minority (URRM) applicants at a disadvantage. This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzes the association between ethnic-racial selection and the reasons for disqualification among applicants to a public Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program that used a minimum grade point average (GPA), and Analytic Writing and Quantitative Reasoning GRE minimum threshold scores to qualify applicants.
There is evidence across the health professions literature that both GRE scores and GPA are associated with success on licensure examinations and academic performance. However, these variables also tend to disadvantage URRM applicants in gaining admissions to postgraduate health care fields, including physical therapy.
All applicants ( N = 4,797) to a single DPT program from a 9-year period were included.
Racial and ethnic self-selections, GRE scores, and prerequisite GPA were coded for each applicant and classified for meeting qualifying criteria.
The URRM applicants were disqualified based on GRE scores alone ( P < .001) and in combination of GRE and GPA at a statistically significantly ( P < .001) higher rate than Overrepresented Racial Group (ORRG) applicants, although the associations were negligible or weak.
Compared with ORRG applicants, URRM applicants were at a statistically significant disadvantage because of the GRE threshold scores requirement. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that use of GRE minimum threshold scores disproportionately reduced URRM applicants in the qualified applicant pool. This investigation can be used as a model to inform holistic admission decisions regarding the use of academic variables to achieve the diversity and success goals of the program.
在美国，越来越多的研究生层次的健康职业教育项目在招生要求中不再使用研究生入学考试（GRE），原因是担心该考试的使用会使少数族裔（URRM）申请人处于不利地位。这项回顾性横断面研究分析了一个公立物理治疗博士（DPT）项目申请人的种族选择与不合格原因之间的关联，该项目使用最低平均绩点（GPA）以及分析性写作和定量推理GRE最低阈值分数来筛选合格申请人。
健康职业领域的文献中有证据表明，GRE分数和GPA都与执照考试的成功及学业表现相关。然而，这些变量在研究生医疗保健领域（包括物理治疗）的招生中也往往使URRM申请人处于不利地位。
纳入了来自一个为期9年的单一DPT项目的所有申请人（N = 4797）。
对每位申请人的种族和民族自我选择、GRE分数以及先修课程GPA进行编码，并根据是否符合资格标准进行分类。
URRM申请人仅因GRE分数被取消资格（P <.001），以及因GRE和GPA综合因素被取消资格的比例在统计学上显著高于多数族裔申请人（ORRG）（P <.001），尽管这种关联微不足道或较弱。
与ORRG申请人相比，由于GRE阈值分数要求，URRM申请人在统计学上处于显著劣势。此外，本研究表明，使用GRE最低阈值分数不成比例地减少了合格申请人池中URRM申请人的数量。这项调查可以作为一个模型，为关于使用学术变量以实现项目的多样性和成功目标的全面招生决策提供参考。
