India a Growing Market for GMAT

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) plans to set up an office in India, making this the third location after the US and UK. David A Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC, spoke to Business Standard‘s Chitra Unnithan about the growing market for the GMAT in India.

Here are edited excerpts from their conversation:

CU: What’s your thinking behind opening an office in India?

DW: India is a vibrant and exciting market for graduate management education. It brings together a culture that embraces education, a knowledge-based economy, entrepreneurial spirit and a youthful population with 50 per cent of its population under the age of 25.

These are ideal conditions for the GMAT and for management education. The establishment of our office will permit us to provide far greater personal service and attention to GMAT aspirants and business schools alike.

CU: How do you rate the quality of management education in India?

DW: India is home to some of the best graduate business schools in the world and I can only see a positive and exciting future. For example, the Indian School of Business (ISB) is ranked in the current FT top 100 business school rankings. We see India as a strategic growth market for GMAT.

CU: There has been a rise in the number of Indian MBA programs using GMAT…

DW: Tests taken by citizens of India were up 7 per cent in testing year 2009, to 30,633, capping a 128 per cent increase during the past five years. As demand for MBA and other graduate management degrees has increased, so has the demand for GMAT.

Many aspirants to the best programs around the world, including the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other fine Indian programs, will take the GMAT as they also contemplate applying to programs elsewhere in the world.

India is among the largest global student pipelines for business schools, and the strong interest in the MBA degree from Indian students makes establishing a GMAC office  there a no-brainer. The council has not yet decided where to open the office at this point– it may be in Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore–as GMAC is still waiting for permission from the regulatory authorities.

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