India has nearly caught up with the United States in terms of the number of students taking the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for pursuing post-graduate programs, with just 10,000 examinees separating the two countries.
The number of Indian students taking the GRE has doubled over the past decade, from 56,782 in 2012-2013 to 114,647 in 2021-2022, with almost half of the test takers last year coming from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The GRE is a popular gateway exam for pursuing graduate programs, primarily in the US. Additionally, the increasing acceptance of GRE scores by higher education institutions in India, including the Indian Institutes of Management and the Indian School of Business, is also contributing to the growing popularity of the exam.
This growing trend in India is in line with the significant increase in the number of Indian nationals enrolled in US graduate schools, with a 48% rise observed in the 2021-2022 academic year, reaching 1,02,024.
In terms of the number of students taking the GRE, Hyderabad has emerged as the top city.
Furthermore, several Tier 2 cities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are emerging as leading centers for GRE test-takers, including Guntur and Vijayawada, which surpassed metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi in both instances.
The high concentration of GRE test-takers in this region is due to the strong emphasis on education and career aspirations, particularly in the fields of engineering and sciences, as well as a keen interest in sending their children abroad, especially to the US. Some are even calling Andhra Pradesh the United States of Andhra.
Top Indian cities for GRE test takers:
1. Hyderabad: 25K
2. Guntur: 9K
3. Mumbai: 6K
4. Bangalore: 6K
5. Vijayawada: 4K
6. Pune: 4K
7. Chennai: 3K
8. Delhi: 3K
9. Vizag: 3K
10. Khammam: 2K
