Students in bachelor’s and master’s programmes at public universities in Georgia will have their tuition fully covered by the state unconditionally only for their first two semesters, while from the third semester, half of the funding will become merit-based, tied to the number of ECTS credits earned in the relevant previous semester.
To keep the merit-based half of their funding, students will need to have earned at least 80% of the credits that make up a full semester workload, based on their performance in the previous semester. A full semester workload is typically 30 ECTS credits.
The changes are part of a wider overhaul of the higher education system announced by the ruling Georgian Dream party in late 2025, as it pledged, among other changes, to make tuition free at all public universities, while excluding private institutions.
The December announcement marked a reversal of the voucher-based system in place since the early 2000s, under which state grants were awarded based on students’ performance in the Unified National Exams and followed them to the public or private university of their choice throughout their studies. However, the government did not specify any conditions for the free tuition when it made the pledge.
Those conditions were set out in a government decree issued on July 30. The new system will apply to students enrolling at public universities from the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year.
According to the decree, state funding will be split into two equal parts: a “guaranteed” component and a “merit-based” component, each covering half of a student’s annual tuition fee. Both components, together accounting for 100% of the funding, will be provided automatically during the first two semesters.
Full tuition fees at public universities range from GEL 2,500 to GEL 3,500 per year for bachelor’s programmes and from GEL 2,750 to GEL 3,600 for master’s programmes.
The conditional component covering half of the funding will take effect from the third semester. Students who have not earned at least 80% of the credits required for a full semester workload in the previous semester will have to cover half of their tuition themselves. The state will continue to cover the other half.
The model has drawn criticism from government opponents, who pointed to the GD’s initial pledge to make studying at public universities completely free without specifying any conditions.
Georgian Dream Education Minister Givi Mikanadze pushed back against the criticism at an August 1 briefing, saying students would only need to pass their courses with at least 51 points to earn the ECTS credits required for half of their funding. Marks above the passing threshold would not matter, he said.
“Claims are being circulated that students need to achieve high academic performance to receive 100% state funding — this is not true,” Mikanadze said. “A student must pass the 51% threshold in each course […] for the credit to be recorded” from the third semester.
Students who fail to meet the credit requirement will still retain the guaranteed half of their funding but can regain the merit-based half in subsequent semesters by meeting the requirement, Mikanadze added.
Students who transfer from a public to a private university will lose their state funding altogether, as the new system does not provide state tuition funding to students enrolled in private universities.
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