Bhubaneswar, Aug. 18: The decision of the All India Council of Technical Education to introduce the Common Admission Management Test (CMAT) for admission into various management colleges from next year has brought cheer to MBA aspirants.

At the same time, though, they have expressed reservations about another decision of allowing deemed universities to conduct their own entrance tests.

According to the new rule, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) would continue with the Common Admission Test (CAT).

All deemed universities will also conduct individual entrance tests. However, admissions to 4,000 colleges that offer MBA and 500 institutions, which run diploma programmes in management, will be held on the basis of the CMAT. “It is a good move as we have to appear for one entrance test to get admission. The earlier system of separate entrance examinations for different colleges was very confusing,” said Ritesh Mishra, an MBA aspirant.

The aspirants are happy that the new system would also be light on their pockets. “Earlier, candidates were forced to spend a lot of money to buy application forms for different institutes. This problem will no longer remain. Students from economically weak sections will be immensely benefited by this new rule,” said Deepak Kumar Panigrahi, another aspirant.

Most aspirants also said the new system would bring about greater transparency and help maintain the quality of the courses being offered. “A common test would mean tougher competition and only the deserving candidates would be able to get through to the best institutes. Also, there is no uniformity in the joint entrance exams being conducted by different states. This, in turn, affects the quality of management colleges,” said Sagarika Dhal, another MBA aspirant.

MBA aspirants, however, are cynical about the move to allow deemed universities to conduct their own entrance examinations. “Deemed universities should also be included in the CMAT system so that the process can become more transparent,” said Jitendra Sahoo, another MBA aspirant.

The decision has also invited criticism from authorities of a few city-based management colleges.

“This has been done only to extract lots of money in the form of entrance examination fees. These institutes should also have been included in the prescribed CMAT system,” said Prabir Pal, director of a management college in Bhubaneswar.