Education expert Lika Glonti says the government’s new higher-education reform - especially the cancellation of the grant-based admission rule - has created a “severe crisis” for private universities. Speaking on BMGTV, she explained that early registration data from universities shows unprecedented demand for state institutions and a sharp decline in applications to private ones.
According to Glonti, the surge in interest toward public universities is not driven by improved academic quality but by Georgia’s difficult socio-economic situation. Students and families are prioritizing affordability, and state universities remain the only places where government scholarships can be used. This trend, she argues, exposes the population’s declining purchasing power.
Glonti predicts many private universities will not survive the financial shock created by the reform. A few may endure for a year or two using internal resources, but most will struggle to maintain staff and large campuses without state-funded students. The situation is worsened by declining interest from foreign students - especially in non-medical programs - and by the reputational damage caused when the government briefly announced, then reversed, a ban on admitting international students to public universities.
The expert believes the reform is not aimed at improving quality or aligning education with labor-market needs but at cutting state spending. She warns that the government will soon use this year’s weak enrollment results to justify shutting down programs, forcing university mergers, and dismissing academic staff - ultimately shrinking the higher-education sector.
