'One city, one faculty': How education reform is reshaping Georgia’s university map
Georgia’s government is radically changing the higher education system. Under the reform, student admissions to state universities will be distributed according to a strict profiling principle: each city and each university will have a specific academic focus.
The government says the goal is to meet labour market demands and concentrate resources. However, the changes raise questions about academic freedom, regional development and university autonomy.
What is changing: the new university profiles
Education Minister Givi Mikanadze presented the distribution of quotas for state universities at a briefing. The plan forms part of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s education reform.
The core idea of the reform is the principle of “one city, one faculty.” It means universities will no longer operate as multi-profile institutions, and each will receive a clear academic focus.
For example, Tbilisi State University will “specialise in exact and natural sciences, the humanities (excluding pedagogy), law, economics and business administration, and social and political sciences. Georgian Technical University will focus on engineering and technical disciplines. Universities in the cities of Zugdidi, Gori, Akhaltsikhe and Telavi will emphasise agriculture, tourism and pedagogy, and so on.”
Labour market quotas
According to the minister, the authorities believe university admissions must reflect real economic demand and rely on labour market research.
In 2025, state universities admitted 19,311 students. Under the new scheme, that number will rise to about 21,300, with around 10,000 additional free places in vocational programmes.
Additional admissions will be possible only in exceptional cases, for example for applicants with identical scores.
The minister says the reduction in popular fields, such as law, will not be drastic. The government plans to introduce an intermediate figure instead.
TSU as the “mother university”
One of the main political elements of the reform concerns the status of Tbilisi State University. According to the government, TSU will “return to its mission as the mother university.”
The education minister says TSU was effectively the only university in Georgia during the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, while other institutions held the status of institutes. Under the reform, TSU will become the only multi-profile university operating in the capital.
The government says this step will concentrate quality. Critics, however, fear that centralisation may increase and competition in the regions may decline.
Internationalisation unchanged
Under the reform, universities will keep their international accreditation, as well as joint and double-degree programmes. The minister says internationalisation remains a top priority in education policy, and the state invests significant funds in this area every year.
This means programmes linked to foreign universities will not be cancelled, despite the profiling of institutions.
What it means for students
In practice, profiling will limit applicants’ choices in any given city. Regional universities previously offered a wide range of disciplines. Now students may have to move to another city to pursue their preferred profession.
At the same time, the authorities say concentrating resources will improve quality, reduce duplication and strengthen the link between education and the economy.
The key question is whether the process will benefit both Tbilisi and the regions equally, or whether the reform will reduce academic diversity.
Commentaries
Analyst David Zurabishvili calls the “one city, one faculty” concept an “unheard-of absurdity invented specifically to dismantle Ilia State University in Tbilisi,” which, after the reform, will specialise in engineering, computer science, technology, applied sciences and mathematics.
“The government believes this university is a nest of conspirators, and they are trying to deal with it in this way. The real goal is political control over the university sector.
But it is obvious that not only Ilia State University will suffer in the end, but the entire education system in Georgia. And not only higher education, but also secondary and vocational education,” Zurabishvili says.
In his view, only a change of government will allow the creation of a normal university system that meets European standards.
Education expert Simon Janashia, meanwhile, stresses that more than 50 faculties will be abolished at Ilia State University, which he describes as a huge “scale of destruction.”
Higher education reform in Georgia
