Increasing Opportunities for Blacks in Business School

Over the past decade the number of students taking the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) has doubled. The number of black GMAT test takers is up 26 percent over the past four years alone.

But in an effort to further improve the opportunities for black students to enroll in business school, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the organization that oversees the GMAT test, has entered into an agreement with the deans of 38 business schools at historically black colleges and universities.

Under the agreement, GMAC will furnish test preparation materials for use by undergraduate students at historically black colleges and universities. In addition, the GMAC will provide test fee waivers to the universities, which they can use at their discretion so that none of their students will be denied the opportunity to take the GMAT because of financial need. The current fee to take the GMAT exam is $250.

In addition, the GMAT Mobile Testing Center will travel the country visiting the campuses of black colleges and universities that are more than 40 miles away from the nearest testing center. As a result, students at these remote campuses will be able to take the GMAT without having to travel.

Copyright © 2009. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.