How Much Does the GRE Cost in 2017?

Total costs for the GRE can be hundreds of dollars. Ryan Balderas / Getty Images

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Updated on May 20, 2019

Students taking the GRE will pay a minimum of $205 in the 2017-18 academic year. Other fees such as score reporting and score review services can make that cost significantly higher, as will the cost of the GRE Subject Test and GRE test preparation materials.

2017-18 GRE Cost Breakdown

The GRE General Test Worldwide:	$205
The GRE General Test in Australia	$230
GRE General Test in China	$220.70
Late Registration Fee for the paper-delivered test only	$25
Standby testing fee for the paper-delivered test only	$50
Rescheduling fee	$50
Test center change fee	$50
Extra score reports per recipient	$27
Q and A review services for Quantitative and Verbal sections	$50
Score review for Analytical Writing	$60
Score review for Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning	$50
Score reinstatement fee	$50

Cost of GRE Subject Tests

Cost of Official GRE Test Preparation Materials

The table above presents costs for the exam and score reporting. Doing well on the exam, however, often requires reviewing practice questions and taking practice exams. GRE provides some free materials for this purpose, but additional materials are available for a fee.

POWERPREP Online (practice for the Computer-delivered GRE General Test	Free
Practice Book for the Paper-delievered GRE General Test	Free
POWERPREP PLUS Online (includes two official practice tests)	$39.95
The Official Guide to the FRE General Test	$40
Official GRE Super Power Pack (includes the Official Guide plus extra quantitative and verbal practice questions	$72
ScoreItNow! Online Writing Practice	$20

Case Studies of the Cost of the GRE

Sally is applying to three graduate programs. She knows which programs those are on the day of her computer-based GRE exam, so her score reporting is included in her exam fee. She relies solely on free online practice materials for her test preparation. Total Cost: $205
Marco takes the GRE before he has figured out which graduate programs he will be applying to, so he is unable to designate schools for score reporting at the time of his exam. He later decides to apply to six programs that require GRE scores. Marco must pay for six score reports plus the exam fee. Total Cost: $367
Danny scheduled the GRE for August, but decided he needed more time to prepare. He buys the Official Guide to the GRE General Test and reschedules his exam for October. He is applying to highly selective graduate programs, so he sends out nine applications (he identifies four of these for score reporting when he takes the computer-based exam; so he must pay for five score reports). Total Cost: $390
Marissa is planning to go to graduate school for chemistry, and she is required to take both the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Test. She buys the Official Guide to the GRE General Test, and she sends scores to a total of eight colleges (four score reports are included in her exam fees, so she needs to pay for the remaining four reports. When she receives her General Exam scores, she is convinced her GRE scores are not good enough for competitive programs, so she takes the exam a second time. Total Cost: $668

You can see that your total cost for the GRE will often be more than the exam fee, and the price can get high quickly when you are applying to a large number of schools or need to take both the General and the Subject tests.

GRE Fee Reduction Program

Some students simply don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a standardized test. Fortunately, qualifying students can receive a 50 percent reduction in the exam fee if they can prove financial need. Details are available on the GRE Fee Reduction Program webpage. Of course, even at a 50% reduction, paying for the exam will still be a struggle for some students. Whereas the SAT offers fee waivers for qualifying students, GRE does not have a waiver option.