UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Penn State is making GRE score submissions optional for applicants to the Master of Science program in Speech-Language Pathology for fall 2021 admission.

“We recognize that there is a lot of anxiety for potential applicants surrounding access to the GRE due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also acknowledge that there may be a financial burden for some students and their families at this time, with widespread unemployment and for some, increased health care costs. We want to ensure that everyone who wants to apply to our master’s program can do so without unnecessary burden,” said Diane Williams, professor and head of the department.

“We will be using the 2021 application cycle to examine our applicant review processes in order to make informed decisions for future years of whether we will resume the use of GRE scores in our decision-making. The graduate application is a portfolio of several components and GRE scores are just one point of consideration,” said Carol Miller, professor-in-charge of the graduate program in the department.

An additional change to the application process for students applying for fall 2021 admission is that Penn State will move to a single-step application. Historically, students have had to complete a two-step process of applying via the Communication Sciences and Disorders Centralized Application System (CSDCAS) and applying to the Penn State Graduate School.

Beginning with fall 2021 applicants, students will only need to complete the CSDCAS portion of the application for consideration. Accepted students who choose to enroll at Penn State will need to submit the Penn State Graduate School application as part of the offer acceptance process.

“Altering the two-step process removes one more barrier for students. It saves time and money, and will hopefully make the application process easier for prospective students,” Miller said.