U.S. News & World Report MBA Rankings Survey to Include GRE(R) Scores

PRINCETON, NJ, May 26 (MARKET WIRE) --
In an unprecedented move, U.S. News & World Report, publisher of the
highly regarded "America's Best Graduate Schools," will for the first
time this October begin collecting GRE(R) General Test data as part of
its annual rankings of top MBA programs. The announcement follows a U.S.
News & World Report study that showed dramatic increases of top business
schools that use or will soon use the GRE test for MBA admission.

The announcement appeared on the blog "Morse Code," written by Robert
Morse, Director of Data Research for the magazine. U.S. News & World
Report also published a companion article, "GRE is Fast Becoming a GMAT
Alternative for B-School Applicants," the day Morse announced the change
on his blog.

"We believe the GRE offers real advantages to MBA programs and
prospective business school students," says ETS President and CEO Kurt M.
Landgraf. "The dramatic increase in MBA programs accepting GRE, and the
recent decision from one of the most respected and influential
publications to collect GRE data as part of its MBA ranking survey,
validates the GRE test as a meaningful option for MBA admission."

The "Morse Code" blog states that a "growing number of MBA programs are
now accepting the Graduate Record Examinations or GRE test for
admissions. This new trend gives prospective MBA students more testing
options... " The posting continues: "One key reason why MBA programs are
adding the GRE as a testing option is it enables them to broaden their
applicant pool and get more potential students to consider going to
B-school."

"About 50 percent of our students come from non-business undergraduate
programs, such as science, law and engineering," says Blake Bedsole,
Director of Admissions and Student Services at Manderson Graduate School
of Business, University of Alabama. "We've found that these students
prefer to take the GRE test so that they can apply to other graduate and
professional programs. In fact, 25 percent of last year's class opted to
take the GRE instead of the GMAT. Accepting GRE scores allows us to be
much more flexible in our recruitment efforts, and that's a good thing
for our program and the students."

Currently, 338 MBA programs accept GRE for admission, including 33 of the
U.S. News & World Report top 100, according to Educational Testing
Service (ETS). Since December 31 of last year, more than 50 MBA programs
have signed on to accept GRE scores, and this number has been rapidly
building on top of the 69 percent increase recorded in 2009.

"Comments from deans indicated clearly that schools are either accepting
the scores or seriously planning to do so very soon, because it simply
makes sense for the schools and for the applicants," says David G. Payne,
VP and COO for Graduate and College Programs at ETS, about his recent
presentation at the International Conference and Annual Meeting of AACSB
International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business)
-- the premier accrediting agency of collegiate business schools and
accounting programs worldwide.

The U.S. News & World Report announcement comes at a time when the GRE
program is gearing up to launch the GRE(R) revised General Test in August
2011. Graduate and business schools have commented that the revisions
will bring more value to institutions and test takers. Students will
especially like many of the new test-taker friendly features, including
content that is more like graduate school work, advanced test navigation
capabilities, and an on-screen calculator. ETS officials anticipate that
potential MBA students will find taking the GRE revised General Test an
attractive option.

"Because it makes perfect sense for programs to broaden and diversify
their applicant pools and to provide increased options for students, it's
only a matter of time before nearly every business school and MBA program
across the globe accepts the GRE test," adds Landgraf.

To learn more, visit the GRE for business schools website.

About ETS
At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education
for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research.
ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies
by providing customized solutions for teacher certification,
English-language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary
education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy
studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than
50 million tests annually -- including the TOEFL(R) and TOEIC(R) tests,
the GRE(R) tests and The Praxis Series(TM) assessments -- in more than
180 countries worldwide. www.ets.org

GMAT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission
Council

Contact:
Mark I. McNutt
+1-609-683-2803
mediacontacts@ets.org

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