GMAC Releases Updated Admissions Reporting Standards to Strengthen Transparency for Global Business School Applicants

Enhancements align admissions reporting with testing practices and international student mobility trends.

RESTON, Va., Feb. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a global nonprofit association representing leading business schools, today announced the latest updates to the Graduate Management Education Admissions Reporting Standards, the industry standards for defining graduate management program parameters, application processes, and class profile characteristics.

The revisions, guided by a task force comprising representatives from GMAC member schools, aim to ensure that reporting standards remain aligned with current admissions practices and continue to provide clear, consistent, and comparable information for prospective students, schools, and rankings organizations alike. Updates also address changing global admissions practices and advances in assessment tools used in candidate evaluation.

"GMAC's research informs us that candidates continue to value graduate management education and are widening their consideration of where and how they pursue it. The updated standards respond to evolving candidate expectations by continuing to enhance guidance for institutions worldwide, ensuring that admissions reporting reflects today's global education landscape and helps candidates everywhere make informed decisions," says Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC. "Ultimately, strengthening transparency and comparability benefits not only students and schools, but also the global business community that depends on a broad and internationally mobile pipeline of management talent."

The most recent update introduces several enhancements to reflect current admissions practices and global program needs, including:

• Clearer applicability for international institutions, distinguishing terminology and reporting practices that apply globally versus those specific to U.S. institutions.
• Incorporation of reporting guidance for GMAT editions, enabling schools to report current GMAT results alongside legacy GMAT scores during the transition period.
• Recognition of the Duolingo English Test (DET) as an accepted measure of English language proficiency.
• Clearer guidance on test waivers and U.S. GPA reporting, including standardized categories for waiver reporting and clarification on which GPA figures should be used in class profile statistics.
• Addition of Adoption Badge program details, encouraging and enabling schools that formally adopt the standards to display verified recognition of their commitment to transparent and consistent admissions reporting and help reinforce trust among candidates in their application journey.

"Our task force spent many months carefully reviewing how admissions data are collected and reported, engaging schools and stakeholders across regions to ensure the standards truly reflect how graduate management education has evolved," says Nita Swinsick, associate dean of graduate and executive degree programs admissions at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business and co-chair of the task force. "We were very conscious that updating these standards was not a procedural exercise, but an important responsibility to ensure continued accurate and reliable reporting."

GMAC formed a task force in 2019 to revise the MBA Reporting Criteria—originally published in 2000 and adopted by approximately 200 business schools—into the more holistic Graduate Management Education Admissions Reporting Standards. The move intended to go beyond just the MBA to include the increasingly popular business master's programs since the inception of the standards. These standards, endorsed by GMAC members in 2020, were designed to be revisited regularly to ensure they continue guiding schools in providing reliable, accurate, useful, and comparable admissions data worldwide. Subsequent review cycles have refined standards across school and program information, application processes, and admissions reporting and class profiles, supplemented by region and area-of-study classifications.

"GMAC's research has shown over the years that prospective students rely heavily on school websites and published rankings when deciding where to apply. As a nonprofit association representing leading business schools worldwide, GMAC is uniquely positioned to bring institutions together around common admissions reporting practices. Drawing on decades of trusted industry collaboration and a strong research foundation, we are proud to help lead the important work on standards revisions to keep pace with the changes in our industry and society," says Sabrina White, senior vice president of school and industry engagement at GMAC and a member of the task force. "We thank our dedicated school representatives on the task force for making this timely publication possible."

Business schools, ranking agencies and other stakeholders worldwide can find the standards on GMAC.com. For institutions with programs compliant with the current standards, request a new 2025/2026 badge by emailing [email protected] to be used for marketing materials and website as a way to indicate adherence to the standards.

About GMAC

GMAC is a global nonprofit association of leading graduate business schools committed to connecting future business leaders with educational opportunities and advancing graduate management education worldwide. Through assessments, research, events, and recruitment solutions, we provide the tools and information necessary for schools and candidates to discover and evaluate each other. With offices in China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, GMAC serves more than 17 million visitors each year across its digital platforms. 

SOURCE Graduate Management Admission Council