Indians surpass Americans in writing GRE test for first time in over 80 years

The number of Indian students taking the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) has exceeded the count of American students, making India the largest GRE test-taker market, according to an Economic Times report, citing top official of Education Testing Service (ETS), which conducts this standardised admission test.

“This is the first time in the more than 80-year history of the GRE that a country outside of the US has more test-takers,” Economic Times quoted Amit Sevak, chief executive of ETS, the world’s largest private non-profit educational testing and assessment organisation, as saying.

“It just shows that the demand is growing here in India,” he added.

Introduced in 1936, the GRE stands as a standardised examination for graduate school admissions. It assesses students’ analytical writing, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and verbal reasoning abilities, serving as a benchmark for admission to graduate and business programs in the US and various other nations.

According to the report, citing ETS, in 2022-23 (June-July), the countries with the highest number of GRE test-takers were India (113,304), followed by the US (97,676), and China (57,769).

Comparing data from the GRE Worldwide Test Taker Report (July 2015-June 2020), the number of US citizens taking the exam dropped by 61 per cent from the 2019-20 cycle, when 250,274 individuals sat for the test, it added.

Conversely, during the same timeframe, the number of Indian GRE test-takers surged by 62 per cent, rising from 69,835.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruption in GRE testing due to the test-optional trend, which led to the closure of test centers worldwide and universities waiving GRE requirements for admissions applications.

Since, most institutions have reinstated the test.

“Institutions around the world and especially in the US have always taken GRE scores as an indicator of readiness for advanced studies,” Economic Times quoted Manisha Zaveri, joint managing director at Career Mosaic, an education agency that helps students to apply to study abroad, as saying.

“The growing interest of Indian students in STEM disciplines makes GRE a natural test of choice for them,” she added.

For the GRE test-takers in India-in the 2022-23 testing year-the most popular intended graduate majors were physical sciences (35%), undecided (29%) and engineering (13%).

While GRE test-takers have a near-even inclination to study in all regions of the United States, their preferences are particularly pronounced for the southern (24%) and western (23%) regions. Among non-US regions, Canada (11%) and Western Europe (10%) were the most sought after.

Also, according to ETS, a rising number of Indian higher education institutions including b-schools – about 100 now – recognise GRE scores. “There’s this whole focus on study in India now, getting more and more international students to come to India. This is a way for internationalising Indian higher education,” Sevak told ET.

GRE provides more flexibility to students, he said. “Unlike other graduate entrance examinations, scores for the GRE are valid for five years. It gives you options. You can take the GRE as a pathway to enter an Indian institution or get an opportunity to access institutions outside of India,” Sevak said.

With inputs from agencies