Shiksha Opinion: Why Are MBA registrations going down?
Latest update: CAT 2014 registrations goes up to 1.97 lakh
Please note: The according to latest information, CAT 2014 registration data has gone up. This further reinstates our view (as mentioned in the article) that MBA craze hasn’t faded out yet.
Original article
Are MBA registrations going down? Is the MBA craze finally fading?
If registration figures for CAT 2014 and CMAT September 2014 are to be believed, the MBA craze is on a downward slope. A mere 53,000 candidates registered for the first CMAT edition, down by 40%. Around 1.89 lakh aspirants have registered for CAT this year, down from 1.94 last year or 2.5% percent.
However, Professor SS Mantha, AICTE chairman (AICTE conduct CMAT) is unfazed. “It’s normal for registration numbers to dip in the first CMAT test,” he says. But the drop in CAT 2014 registrations, though by mere 2.5%, is a surprising development. CAT 2014 will reach 99 cities comprising of 354 test sites. In other words, CAT 2014 decided to reach out to students across the country, rather than making students travel to appear for the exam. So, ideally shouldn’t more students be opting for it?
“Plus there’s a Modi wave in the country, signalling a growth and revival in the market. The numbers should have ideally gone up by at least 10%,” says Vinayak Kudwa, MBA product head at IMS. Not to forget, the new government will introduce six more IIMs that are likely to start functioning from 2015.
So why are the MBA registration numbers going down?
As it turns out, the dip in registrations seems to be a trend with just CAT, CMAT and a few other Indian MBA examination. A look at GMAT numbers across the world paints a very different picture. In 2013, GMAT test takers from India increased to an all-time high of 22,878. The numbers have been increasing by some percentage each year, reports a GMAC survey. The same report reflects how, the number of MBA candidates from India and China to international MBA programmes are also increasing.
The truth is MBA craze hasn’t faded out yet. Rather the craze for international management courses has gone up. Which has probably inversely affected the interest in Indian MBA courses. There have also been repeated incidents of students questioning the CAT normalisation process. They want to know how their raw score is being scaled and the IIMs are not too keen to disclose the method.
The new government is also pushing entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups. So many potential management aspirants from India are skipping the MBA degree and taking the start-up plunge.
