80+ PA Schools Without the GRE for 2026-27
The GRE is fading as a PA school admissions requirement. 85 of 337 listings still require it as of the 2026-27 cycle, which is about 25% and dropping every year. If you have not taken the GRE and you do not want to, the list of programs you can still apply to is much longer than most applicants realize.
I want to put the punchline up top: more than two-thirds of accredited PA programs do not require the GRE for 2026-27. If your application is solid in every other way and you are looking at the GRE as the last hurdle between you and submitting, this post is for you. There is a real chance you do not need to take it.
The GRE-and-PA-school landscape in 2026-27
Five years ago, the GRE was the default. Most programs required it, a smaller subset accepted it as optional, and a small minority did not require it at all. The pandemic compressed that timeline. By 2022, programs that had previously required the GRE were waiving it; by 2024, dozens had moved to "optional" or eliminated it entirely; by 2026, the requirement is held by a shrinking minority of programs.
Here is the current breakdown for the 2026-27 cycle, drawn from the PA program spreadsheet data refreshed August 13, 2026 from ARC-PA and program admissions pages:
| GRE policy | Programs (approx.) | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| GRE reported as required | 85 | 25% |
| No GRE requirement reported | 252 | 75% |
The "not accepted" category is the one applicants underestimate. About half of programs neither require nor accept the GRE in any meaningful way. Submitting GRE scores to those programs does not help you. The score sits in your CASPA profile and program reviewers do not look at it.
Should you take the GRE if you have a choice?
I get this question a lot. The honest answer is: probably no, with two narrow exceptions.
The case against the GRE for the average applicant: you are spending studying time and money on a credential that does not transfer to half of programs and does not differentiate you at most of the rest. The same hours invested in your personal statement, your school list, or your PCE accumulation will move outcomes more than a one-standard-deviation GRE score improvement will. The GRE has the highest opportunity cost of any optional pre-PA preparation step I can think of.
The two exceptions:
- Your target program list is heavy on programs that require the GRE. If five of your eight target programs require it, you are taking the test, and it is worth taking it well rather than sandbagging.
- You have a meaningfully low GPA and you are looking for any signal that demonstrates academic capability. A high GRE score (320+) on a low-GPA file can move some readers, especially at programs that consider the GRE one of several academic indicators rather than a strict cutoff. This is a thin lever - it does not substitute for retaking prereqs - but it is real.
If neither exception applies to you, skip the GRE. Use the time on the parts of your application that programs actually weigh.
How to use the no-GRE list strategically
The list is long enough that "every program that does not require the GRE" is not a useful shortlist. You still need to filter by your stats, your prereq match, your geographic constraints, and the program's review style (rolling vs non-rolling - covered in detail in the rolling vs non-rolling post).
The cleanest workflow is:
- Filter the spreadsheet to programs without a GRE requirement. That gives you about 252 listings.
- Filter again by your sGPA, your cumulative GPA, your prereq completion status. That usually narrows to 60-100.
- Filter by PCE hour minimums, geographic preferences, and any program-specific factors (mission alignment, faculty, dual-degree options).
- Cross-reference the rolling vs non-rolling status to decide your submission timing.
The end of that workflow is a 12-25 program list that is competitive for your file and does not require the GRE. That is a usable shortlist.
If a program is GRE optional, treat the policy as "submit if it helps your file, skip if it does not." A 295 GRE on a 3.7 GPA file does not help you. A 320 GRE on a 3.0 GPA file might. Ask yourself whether the score moves the needle compared to the file's other signals before deciding to submit it.
The 85 listings that report a GRE requirement
I am not going to enumerate all 85 here because that list is precisely the kind of data that drifts month to month, and a static list in a blog post goes stale faster than the spreadsheet column does. The current list is in the spreadsheet with the policy verified against the program's admissions page within the last refresh.
What I can tell you about the require-GRE programs as a category:
- They skew toward older, established programs, often at large research universities.
- The required minimum is usually a combined score around 300, with verbal and quant minimums around 150 each. Some programs ask for higher.
- A few programs require a writing score (typically 4.0+).
- About a quarter of the require-GRE programs will accept the MCAT in lieu of the GRE.
- A separate, partially-overlapping subset requires the CASPer situational-judgment test - 27 current listings.
What I didn't realize about the GRE my first cycle
I took the GRE my first cycle. I scored fine. I sent the scores to every program on my list, including the ones that did not require it. None of those programs cared, and the time I spent studying for the GRE was time I should have spent on the personal statement and on adding programs to my list. The personal statement was the part of my file that needed the most work, and the GRE was a completely uncorrelated input that did not move the readers I needed to move.
If you are looking at the GRE because you feel like you should - because every PA-school resource you read in 2018 told you it was required - pull up the current data first. The landscape changed. The advice that was correct five years ago is not correct now. Do not study for a test you do not need to take.
Frequently asked questions
How many PA schools require the GRE for 2026-27?
85 of 337 PA program listings require the GRE for the 2026-27 cycle, which is approximately 25% and declining each year. The remaining 252 listings do not report the GRE as required; some may still accept an optional score.
Should I take the GRE if my target programs do not require it?
Probably not. The GRE has the highest opportunity cost of any optional pre-PA preparation step. The same time invested in your personal statement, school list, or PCE hours moves outcomes more than a one-standard-deviation GRE score does. The exception is if you have a low GPA and need an additional academic signal, in which case a high GRE score (320+) can help.
What GRE score do PA schools want?
Programs that require the GRE typically want a combined score around 300, with verbal and quant minimums around 150 each. A few programs require a writing score of 4.0 or higher. A combined 310 is competitive at most require-GRE programs; a 320 is strong everywhere.
Can I use the MCAT instead of the GRE for PA school?
About a quarter of the require-GRE programs accept the MCAT as a substitute. Verify the policy on the program's specific admissions page before assuming it transfers. Submitting an MCAT to a program that only accepts the GRE does not help you.
Is the GRE going to be required less in the future?
Yes, the trend is one-directional. Every cycle since 2020 has seen more programs drop the GRE requirement. The 2026-27 share of 27% is the lowest it has been, and the trajectory points lower for 2027-28 and beyond.