GRE for US Universities: Do International Students Still Need It in 2026?

The short answer is: for most international students applying to US universities in 2026, no — the GRE is no longer a mandatory part of the application. Since the pandemic, most American graduate programmes have made the test optional or dropped it entirely, and many have kept those policies for the 2026 admission cycle. But “most” is not “all”. GRE rules are set programme by programme, not university by university, some competitive programmes still require a score, and a strong GRE result can still rescue an application with a weaker GPA. This guide explains what the test is in 2026, what it costs, which universities still ask for it, and how to decide whether to spend the $249 before you apply. Once you have your admission offer, our F-1 Student Visa USA Guide 2026 walks through the visa steps that follow.

What Is the GRE in 2026?

The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) General Test is a standardised admissions test run by ETS (Educational Testing Service). It measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing — the skills graduate schools use to judge whether an applicant can handle advanced coursework. It is used mainly for master’s and PhD programmes, and some business schools accept it in place of the GMAT.

The test changed significantly in September 2023, when ETS cut it from about 3 hours 45 minutes to just under 2 hours. The shorter format is the one you will sit in 2026.

Section	What it tests	Questions	Time	Score scale
Analytical Writing	One essay: “Analyse an Issue” — build a reasoned argument	1 task	30 minutes	0–6 (half-point steps)
Verbal Reasoning	Reading comprehension, text completion, sentence equivalence	27 (two sections)	41 minutes	130–170
Quantitative Reasoning	Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, data analysis; on-screen calculator provided	27 (two sections)	47 minutes	130–170
Total	—	54 questions + 1 essay	About 1 hour 58 minutes	Combined Verbal + Quant: 260–340

The test is section-adaptive: how you perform on the first Verbal or Quant section sets the difficulty of the second. There is no negative marking, and you can move freely between questions within a section. You can sit the test at a test centre or at home, and you can take it up to five times in a rolling 12-month period, with at least 21 days between attempts.

Your scores stay reportable for five years from your test date — not from the day the scores are released. ETS’s ScoreSelect system lets you choose which scores a university sees: your most recent sitting, all sittings from the last five years, or one or more sittings you pick. A university never has to see a weak attempt unless you choose to send it.

How Much Does the GRE Cost in 2026?

The fee rose on 1 August 2026, so many older guides still quote the old price. The current figures, taken from ETS’s own fees page on the day this article was written, are:

Item	Cost
GRE General Test (all areas except China)	$249
GRE General Test (China)	$237.86
GRE Subject Test	$199
Rescheduling your test	$55
Changing your test centre	$55
Additional score reports (beyond the free ones)	$40 per recipient
Score review for Analytical Writing	$60
Score reinstatement	$50

The $249 registration fee includes four free score reports — but only if you choose the four recipients on test day. After test day, every extra report costs $40. ETS adds a non-refundable 4% online service fee to the final charge, and in some countries (including the USA, Canada, the EU and others) tax is added at checkout, so budget slightly above $249.

If money is tight, check the ETS Fee Reduction Program first. Eligible US test takers who can demonstrate financial need can register for the General Test for $100 instead of $249, and the voucher also includes free test preparation materials worth about $100. International students are generally not eligible for that programme, so most applicants outside the USA should plan on paying the full fee. Verify the current fee on the ETS GRE fees page before you register, because ETS can change prices without notice.

For most international students, the real cost of the GRE is higher than $249. Add preparation books or a prep course, the English test you will still need (TOEFL or IELTS), and the score reports beyond the four free ones, and the total can easily reach $400–$600. That is money worth spending only if the score will actually help your application — which brings us to the real question.

Which US Universities Still Require the GRE — and Which Don’t?

There is no single national rule. Each department sets its own policy, so one department at a university may require the GRE while another waives it, and policies can change between admission cycles. Always check the exact programme page before you plan around a waiver. With that warning in place, the direction of travel is clear: a large majority of US graduate programmes no longer require the test.

Many of the best-known universities have made the GRE optional or removed it for most graduate programmes, including:

University	GRE policy for many graduate programmes (2026)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	Optional or not required for most engineering and science master’s programmes
Stanford University	Optional for many programmes; holistic review emphasises research and academics
Harvard University	Not required for many STEM and business programmes
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	Optional or not required for many graduate programmes
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor	Optional or not required for many graduate programmes
Columbia University	Optional for many programmes, including MS Computer Science
New York University (NYU)	Optional for many programmes, including MS Cybersecurity
Boston University	Optional for MS Computer Science and several other master’s programmes
Purdue University	Many departments do not require the GRE for specific programmes
University of Southern California (USC)	Optional or not required for many graduate programmes

This is a starting point for a shortlist, not a guarantee. The same university can treat domestic and international applicants differently: Stony Brook University’s computer science department, for example, waives the GRE for US citizens and permanent residents for the 2026 intakes but still requires it from international master’s applicants who do not hold a US or Canadian degree. And some programmes still require the test outright — several well-known universities, including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and NYU, still ask for GRE scores for some science and technology programmes. The only policy that matters is the one on the admissions page of the exact programme you are applying to.

GRE-Optional, GRE-Not-Required and GRE-Not-Accepted: Know the Difference

These three phrases sound similar but mean very different things for your application:

GRE-optional (or GRE-recommended). You may submit scores, and a strong score can help — but you will not be rejected for leaving the field blank. This is the most common policy in 2026. If your GPA is strong and your profile is complete, skipping the test costs you nothing. If your GPA is weak or you are switching fields, a good score is one of the few ways to prove you can handle the coursework.

GRE-not-required. The programme does not ask for scores and will not use them in the decision. Some departments in this category will still read a score if you send one; others will ignore it. Check the wording on the programme page — “not required” and “not considered” are not the same.

GRE-not-accepted. The programme will not look at your score even if you send it. A small number of programmes, such as some engineering master’s degrees, now state this explicitly. Paying $249 for a test a programme refuses to read is money wasted.

One more distinction matters for international students: a GRE waiver is never an English test waiver. Even where the GRE is optional, non-native English speakers must still submit TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo scores. Typical minimums are TOEFL iBT 80–100 or IELTS 6.5–7.5, depending on the programme. Plan and budget for the English test separately — it is not optional.

When You Should Still Take the GRE

Skipping the test is sensible for many applicants, but not for all. Take the GRE if any of these apply to you:

Your GPA is below the programme’s usual range. A strong Quant or Verbal score is the clearest evidence you can offer that a low GPA does not reflect your ability. Admissions committees use it exactly this way when a transcript is uneven.

You are switching fields. Moving from, say, a humanities degree into data science or engineering leaves admissions officers with no direct evidence you can do the maths. A high Quant score fills that gap.

You are applying to a programme that still requires it. Obvious, but easy to miss when a university’s general pages say “optional” and the department page says “required”. Read the department page.

You want to compete for funding. Some scholarships and assistantships still use GRE scores as a filter, even where admission itself is test-optional. Our guide to scholarships in the USA for international students explains how funding decisions are made, and a strong score can tip a close funding decision in your favour.

Your university or degree is unfamiliar to the admissions committee. If your undergraduate institution is not well known in the USA, a standardised score gives the committee a benchmark it trusts.

You are applying to a very competitive programme. When hundreds of qualified applicants compete for a few dozen places, a strong score is one more signal that sets you apart — especially for PhD programmes, where funding and research fit are judged closely.

When You Can Safely Skip It

You can skip the GRE with confidence if all of the following are true:

• Every programme on your shortlist states that the GRE is optional or not required — checked on the department page, for the 2026 cycle, for international applicants.
• Your GPA is at or above the programme’s typical range, so you do not need a test score to compensate.
• You have strong recommendation letters, a clear statement of purpose, and relevant experience, projects or research to show.
• You are not relying on the GRE for a scholarship or assistantship that asks for it.

If those conditions hold, the $249 and the weeks of preparation are better spent strengthening the parts of your application that the committee will actually read: your statement of purpose, your CV, and your English test score. Remember too that a mediocre GRE score can hurt an otherwise strong application in a test-optional process — if you take it, take it seriously.

How to Decide: A 5-Step Check Before You Pay $249

1. List your programmes, then check each department page. Write down every programme you plan to apply to, open its admissions page, and record whether the GRE is required, optional, not required or not accepted — for international applicants, for your intake. Do this in November, before deadlines, because policies change between cycles.
2. Sort the list. If even one programme you really want requires the GRE, you need to take it. If all are optional, move to step 3.
3. Be honest about your GPA. If your GPA is clearly below the programme’s published average, a strong GRE score is worth the investment. If it is at or above the average, the test adds little.
4. Check the funding pages. Some scholarships, fellowships and assistantships ask for GRE scores even when admission does not. If you plan to apply for funding, check whether a score helps — and read our FAFSA Guide to understand which federal aid international students can and cannot access.
5. Weigh the total cost, not just the fee. The $249 registration, the 4% service fee, preparation materials and any extra $40 score reports add up. Compare that with the value of the score to your specific applications. If the test will not change any decision, keep the money.

How to Register and Prepare

If you decide to take the GRE, register through your ETS account on the official GRE website. Test dates are available year-round at test centres and at home, but popular dates fill up, so book at least a month ahead of the date you want. Choose your four free score recipients on test day — after test day, each report costs $40.

For preparation, ETS’s free POWERPREP practice tests use real retired questions and are the closest thing to the real exam. Most students need six to ten weeks of steady preparation: two to three hours a day, with timed practice sections in the final two weeks. Focus your effort where it matters most for your field — Quant carries more weight for engineering, computer science and economics, while Verbal matters more for humanities and social sciences.

Take the test early enough that your scores arrive before your earliest deadline. Official scores reach ETS accounts about 8–10 days after the test, and universities receive them a few days after that. For a December or January deadline, sitting the test in October or November leaves a comfortable margin — and leaves time for one retake if the first attempt disappoints.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

The GRE has gone from a near-universal requirement to a strategic choice. For most international students in 2026, the test is optional, and a strong application — good grades, a clear statement of purpose, strong recommendations and a solid English test score — will carry you further than a test score most programmes no longer ask for. Take the GRE when it fills a gap in your profile, when a programme you want still requires it, or when it could unlock funding. Skip it when every programme on your list is genuinely test-optional and your profile already speaks for itself. Either way, make the decision programme by programme, on the department’s own admissions page — not on a headline that says the GRE is dead, and not on a blog post that still quotes the old $220 fee. Once you have your offers, the next step is the visa: our F-1 Student Visa USA Guide 2026 covers the fees, the interview and the new social media rules, and our fully funded scholarships guide lists the awards that can cover the full cost of the degree.