Tribhuvan University, Faculty of Management (TUFoM), Dean's office conducted the CMAT exam on Bhadra 30. Under the semester system, 11,173 students passed the examination for admission to BBA, BBM, BIM, BPA, BHM, BTTM, and BMS programs at the graduate level. With 11,997 total number applicants, 11,185 students appeared in the examination. The examination had 812 absentees, and 9 students were reported to have failed the CMAT. The constituent and affiliated colleges, which constitute a total of 9,753 seats, have now been taking admission to the undergraduate programs of Tribhuvan University.
The Faculty of Management started accepting CMAT applications earlier compared to prior years. The CMAT application period in previous years extended into the long holiday seasons, and the exam was usually scheduled after Chhath festival. There were fewer applicants this year due to the FOM not only opening the application process earlier but also holding the exam by Bhadra 30. The CMAT application period started on Shrawan 17, 2079, and it closed on Bhadra 23, whereas the Grade 12 results were released on Bhadra 17. The fact that there was just a one-week window for applications following the release of the Grade 12 results may have contributed to some proactive students filling out applications while others did not.
The Grade 12 results from this year didn't help the situation either. 188,410 students out of 363,008 students got non-graded grades in total. More than 50% of the students failed the Grade 12 exams, according to this statistic. One can surmise that the poor Grade 12 scores impacted the application rate. Although students with non-graded status were also eligible to apply, most students prioritize clearing their exams first.
Similarly, the number of students seeking to pursue higher education overseas has increased dramatically in recent years. Students with good GPAs emphasize applying to universities in the USA, the UK, Canada, Japan, and Australia. It appears that Nepali students have designated more than 39 countries as their destinations for higher education. 60,000 to 75,000 young students go abroad to study each year, according to the MoEST's chief resident. 400–500 students per day have received international study licenses over the last three months alone. According to reports, students primarily choose science, information technology, and management disciplines, degrees already offered in Nepal.
Every five years, four times as many students study abroad. According to data from the Ministry of Education, 58,758 students traveled abroad to study in 2017–18, compared to just 16,500 in 2013. In 2018, 69 different nations were chosen by Nepalese students as their destinations to study, with 60% choosing Australia, according to reports.
According to Tribhuvan University, the primary reason for the current volume of applications for undergraduate degrees is that most students opt to pursue their studies abroad. Although the argument has some merit, the institution is trying to discount all other possibilities. The CMAT's early scheduling and the lower-than-expected Grade 12 results are also factors in the lower number of applications.
The colleges are concerned that the enrolment will not, in any way, fill the college's capacity. Some claim that they were compelled to halt the program for this academic session due to insufficient enrollment. "We used to run three management programs in our institution effortlessly, but now not even 50 students have enrolled in a single management program", said an administrative head of a college in Kathmandu.
Previously, the Institute of engineering used to conduct the entrance examination earlier than that of FOM. Similarly, FOM also used to get the students who would switch from other faculty like BCA, BSc CSIT, Engineering, and Medical fields to add the number of applicants for the CMAT exam. However, the Dean of the Faculty of Management, Dilliraj Sharma, claims there has not been any discussion about the re-entrance. He claims that talks can only proceed after the announcement of the Grade 12 grade increment results.
