The testing year 2009 represented a milestone shift for the GMAT exam, with the tests taken by non-US citizens reaching 51 percent, outnumbering those taken by Americans for the first time. Testing among both groups has been rising, but testing among non-US citizens has been rising at a much faster rate over the last several years.

Citizens of Asian Pacific (APAC) countries have been driving much of that global growth and now represent around 30 percent of GMAT exams taken worldwide, GMAC President Dave Wilson told the Association of Asia Pacific Business Schools at its annual meeting in Bangkok in November. Among citizen groups that take the GMAT, five of the top 10 are from APAC countries, he said. Overall, more than 80,000 GMAT exams were taken by citizens of the region, making it the second largest b-school student pipeline, behind North America. Increased student demand seen in GMAT testing echoed data collected in this year’s Application Trends Survey, where 75 percent of MBA programs in APAC reported an increase in application volume from last year.

Wilson’s speech, as well as two recent webinars, highlighted a new GMAC analysis of graduate business education trends emerging in China and APAC.

China: Younger, female examinees fuel a test-taking boom

Since testing year 2005, the number of GMAT exams taken by Chinese citizens has increased by 175 percent—vs. overall global growth of about 30 percent, said GMAC senior research analyst Alex Chishom. The number of GMAT exams taken by examinees located in China has increased a whopping 309 percent during that same period.

Among examinees sitting for the GMAT across the globe in 2009, Chinese citizens represented 9 percent of the global student pipeline, ranking third, behind citizens from the United States and India. Chinese examinees sent nearly 86,000 GMAT score reports to graduate management education programs around the world.

The Chinese student pipeline has been changing significantly, as well. Chinese test takers are more likely to be younger and female, and they’re less likely to pursue traditional MBA programs, Chisholm said, opting instead for accounting or other specialized master’s degrees.
 
Finally, Chisholm noted, Chinese examinees stand out based on their GMAT scores, averaging 24 points higher than those from other APAC countries and 40 points more than test takers worldwide.