The Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, will include a new reasoning section starting this summer.
An additional section of the standardized exam will be added in June, according to a Kaplan Test Prep press release on Wednesday.
The test is used to evaluate students applying to graduate-level management programs, according to GMAT's website.
"A GMAT score at a top-tier institution is always going to be an important element of consideration," said Alexander Sevilla, director of UF MBA Programs and assistant dean at the Hough Graduate School of Business.
The new integrated reasoning section will test students' ability to balance different sources of information to answer questions, said Andrew Mitchell, director of Kaplan Test Prep pre-business programs. He is also a GMAT instructor for Kaplan.
The exam currently contains writing, verbal and quantitative sections, he said.
Adding integrated reasoning is the first significant change to the GMAT in 15 years.
College students can take the GMAT before June and avoid preparing for the new section, Mitchell said. All scores are valid for five years, including those from before the change.
