CAT enrolment sees 20% rise, GRE, Toefl fall 30%

The global slowdown is taking a toll on the number of takers for international education training programmes. Enrolments for the Common Admission Test (CAT) at MBA test-preparing institutes, however, are in full swing.

Institutes confirm that student enrolment numbers for international education training programmes such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (Toefl) have fallen around 30 per cent so far. Enrolments for Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) have been stagnant.

The only exam to see a 20 per cent rise in the number of registrations is CAT — the gateway to Indian B-schools. CAT enrolments in test-preparing institutes continue till early September (the exam is held in November), but GRE and TOEFL tests are held round the year.

At the Hyderabad-based Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), for instance, CAT contributes over 50 per cent to annual revenues. The institute also runs the popular Campus Recruitment Training (CRT) programme. “One would think stiffer competition would make more people enrol for programmes like the CRT or the GRE, but that is not the case,” said Jaideep Singh Chowdhary, senior manager-corporate planning at TIME.

“With people perceiving fewer opportunities, they are putting even their preparations on hold. This could explain the dip in enrolment numbers,” he added.

Delhi-based Career Launcher estimates that enrolments for GRE at the institute have seen a 20 per cent drop. “We will have to wait another quarter and see how the numbers pan out. So far we have seen some slowdown in the international education segment,” said Managing Director Nikhil Mahajan.

US-based ETS (Educational Testing Service), which conducts GRE and Toefl among other examinations worldwide, says that historically, it has seen increases in GRE during economic slowdowns and expects the same this year. However, David Payne, vice-president and COO, higher education, ETS, agreed that GRE volumes in India dropped in 2008.

Payne, however, is optimistic that GRE will have a robust year “because interest in graduate school increases due, in part, to the economy”.