The number of European citizens taking the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) rising rapidly and a growing number of these test takers are having their scores sent to management education programs in Europe, according to recent research from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns the GMAT.
According to GMAC, increased test taking activity in Europe is part of surge in interest in MBA and other graduate management education programs worldwide. During the 2009 testing year, which runs from July 1st to June 30th, global GMAT testing volume reached an all-time high of 265,613. Of these test takers, for the first time ever this year more than half were non-U.S. citizens. Overall, test taking volume is up 32 percent since 2004. In Europe specifically, it has grown by 30 percent during the same time period.
The recent analysis of test taking volume also revealed new trends in where test takers are sending their scores. Almost 10 percent of GMAT score reports sent globally in testing year 2009 went to programs located in 10 European countries, up from 6.9 percent of scores sent five years earlier. Of these 10 European countries, the United Kingdom and France received the most number of score reports.
“More and more Europeans are recognizing that high-quality management education is available in their own back yard,” Julia Tyler, GMAC marketing executive, said in a statement.
GMAC researchers have found that European citizens are sending a significantly smaller share of their GMAT score reports to programs in the United States and instead sending them to programs in Europe, particularly to British, French, Dutch and Spanish business schools. According to GMAC’s data, the most popular European MBA programs among European citizens in 2009 were those at INSEAD, London Business School and IESE Business School.
For more details on trends in GMAT testing and score sending, click here.
