Europe’s B-Schools Gain Global Popularity

Other key findings:

• Europeans took 24,298 GMAT exams in 2011, a 40% increase or nearly 7,000 more exams when compared with 2007.
• Citizens of France (4,238 exams taken), Germany (3,875), Russia (1,980), and Italy (1,836) were the largest student pipelines in Europe in 2011 and represented nearly half of total regional testing for the year.
• More than half (51%) of European citizens who took the GMAT in 2010 were younger than 25 years old, a proportion that increased from 38% in 2007. Examinees in France were among the youngest, while examinees in Spain were among the oldest.
• Europeans sent 51,946 GMAT score reports to business schools around the world in 2011. U.S. programs got a third of these scores and were the primary destination for European score reports. Study opportunities in France and the United Kingdom ranked second and third, respectively.
• European citizens have shown growing interest in regional programs. In 2011, Europeans directed 63% of their score reports to European schools, up from 48% in 2007.
• Domestic study opportunities were the top choice for citizens of France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Portugal in 2011. French examinees showed the greatest interest in domestic study, sending 51% of their scores to domestic institutions.
• Young examinees interested in specialized masters programs largely account for recent score-sending growth. Although the MBA remained the preferred program choice for European examinees in 2011, the proportion of scores sent to master’s programs has increased to 43% from 21% since 2007.
• Graduate management programs in Europe received 85,319 GMAT score reports from global examinees in 2011. This marks an all-time high and a 65% increase when compared with 2007.
• European schools are an attractive destination for global talent. Indian and Chinese citizens accounted for 35% of all score reports to Europe in 2011. In total, 62% of score reports received came from non-Europeans.

GMAT EXAM TRENDS IN EUROPE

Source: Graduate Management Admissions Council

View the report at www.gmac.com/geographictrends. Go to www.gmac.com to see other GMAT data and survey research from the Graduate Management Admission Council.