Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) sets record volume in 2009

December 19, 2009

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is on track to set a new record in 2009 for the number of tests administered in a single year.

As per the projections released by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the number of GMAT exams administered worldwide this year is expected to reach an all-time high of more than 267,000 as compared to 264,700 last year.

According to analyses of the most recent GMAT testing year from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, approximately 51 percent of test takers were citizens of nations other than the United States This is the first time since 1954 that non-U.S. test takers have accounted for a majority of candidates during a testing year.

The figure shows that China and India have played a particularly large role in the globalization of management education. The number of GMAT exams taken by Chinese citizens rose 35 percent in the testing year 2009 compared to the year before, the number is up 181 percent since 2005. Tests taken by citizens of India were up 7 percent in testing year 2009, capping a 128 percent increase over the past five years.