In the September/October issue of Public Health Reports, researchers from the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions identified predictors of foundational graduate public health course grades and graduate grade point averages (GPAs), sharing evidence to remove application factors that are admission barriers and do not predict student outcomes.

Their findings add to the growing body of research showing that standardized test scores may not predict graduate student outcomes and provide further evidence for the field of public health to consider removing this admission barrier. By doing so, institutions could admit more students to graduate public health programs who can bring needed skills to the market, further diversifying the workforce and public health faculty, to better meet population health needs.