Panjab University May Make SAT, GRE and GMAT Score Mandatory for NRI Students’ Admissions

The Panjab University (PU) is considering making SAT, GRE and GMAT score mandatory for the admission of Non-Resident Indian students in the 2018-19 academic year in its new guidelines.

According to the proposal, NRI students, in order to take admissions in PU in the NRI category, will have to take tests like the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), Graduate Record Examinations, and Graduate Management Admission Test.

The committee is yet to take the final decision and once decided the senate would finally deliberate on the matter and give the final nod, Meenakshi Malhotra, dean, university instructions (DUI), said, the Times of India reported.

“More than 500 international students have been pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Panjab University and its local affiliated colleges. Seats are available for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) candidates. Foreign Nationals sponsored by Government of India can seek admission if they are otherwise eligible,” said a statement from PU.

In its 2017-18 admission guidelines, Deepti Gupta, the dean of international students, said that 10 per cent seats over and above the total number of regular seats in each course are reserved for foreign nationals or NRI candidates.

According to the guidelines for NRI and foreign students last year, the applicants would have to comply with any other requirements prescribed by the government of India and Panjab University from time to time.

In its last meeting on Dec.16, 2017, the senate gave its approval post facto for the guidelines for NRI students who wanted admissions in UG and PG courses for the academic year of 2017-18, similar to the 2016-17 guidelines. It was decided that a set of new guidelines would be made for the upcoming academic year.

With regard to the Ph.D. program, the guidelines stipulated that the International students who are not present in India at the time of the Panjab University Ph.D. CET will need to achieve at least band 5 in IELTS Academic or 60 in TOEFL or 150-154 in GRE or 600 in GMAT.

In 2017-18 academic year, only 17 NRI students took admission in the university, while 41 NRI students took admission in 2016-17, according to official records.

The 2017-18 guidelines also said that foreign nationals and NRI candidates will have to provide the academic certificate of passing the qualifying or equivalent examination as prescribed for each course to which admission is sought.

The Panjab University has been ranked 363 in the Thomson Reuters-powered Best Global Universities Rankings 2016 by US News and Global Report. It was ranked in the bracket 501- 600 internationally in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings during 2015-2016.