General information about the higher education system in the country
Georgia joined the Bologna Process in 2005 and since started to harmonise with the EHEA and it is instrumental, offering a diverse range of educational opportunities and promoting internalisation.
According to legislation there are the following types of higher education institutions in Georgia:
- College – delivering only undergraduate educational programme(s);
- Teaching University – delivering higher education programme (s) (other than a doctoral degree);
- University – delivering educational programme(s) at all three levels of higher education and providing scientific research.
Currently, there are 63 authorized HEIs operating in Georgia. Among them 19 are public, 44 - private. HEIs in Georgia receive funding from various sources, including tuition fees, funds received through private grants, contributions or a will, competitive research grants awarded by local or/and international institutions.
The Georgian higher education system follows the three-cycle structure of the EHEA. And there are some degree programmes (medical, dentistry, teacher and veterinary education) which lead to PhD degree directly. To gain admission to the first cycle of higher educational programmes in Georgia, it is mandatory to possess a general education diploma and pass the Unified National Examinations. For admission to the second cycle of educational programmes, a bachelor's degree diploma and completion of the unified master's examination are required, in addition to any special requirements set by the higher education institution (HEI) for each programme. Regarding admission to doctoral programmes, candidates must hold a master's degree or an equivalent degree, and any additional requirements are determined by the HEIs.
Use of ECTS
The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) has been used in Georgia since 2007. It supports transparency and mobility, allowing students to transfer between institutions and countries. Common Framework for Qualifications: Georgia aligned its National Qualifications Framework with the Qualifications Framework for the EHEA, ensuring that Georgian degrees are compatible with those in EHEA countries. Current NQF and a Classifier of the Study Fields were approved in 2019 and meet the requirements of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the European Higher Education Area Qualifications Framework (QF-EHEA).
Quality Assurance
The external quality assurance framework of Georgia consists of institutional authorisation and programme cluster accreditation procedures. The National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement (NCEQE) also conducts accreditation of joint programmes based on the European approach. The NCEQE is a member of ENQA and is registered in EQAR, has membership of World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) which proves alignment of its QA framework with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG-2015) and WFME international standards. The NCEQE acquired the right to conduct institutional and programme evaluations abroad.
Information on recent policy updates, major reforms and related news
Georgia revised the standards of authorisation and programme accreditation in 2015-2018. Consequently, the standards became more outcome-based and descriptive content-wise. These standards create the common framework for quality assurance and guide the Georgian HEIs to engage their communities in internal quality assurance processes, with the purpose of ensuring recognition, transparency, trust and accountability. Later in 2022, model of cluster accreditation of educational programmes was elaborated and implemented successfully and became mandatory. The introduction of the cluster accreditation of educational programmes was backed by the analysis of the areas of further improvement identified in the accreditation process, and international practice of programme accreditation. Cluster accreditation allows holistic internal and external quality assurance assessment of educational programmes and efficient use of resources by HEIs.
Cluster accreditation reform presupposes development of sector benchmarks for all fields of study and their implementation in line with cluster accreditation timeline in 2022-2028. According to recent changes, authorisation and programme accreditation procedures include compulsory engagement of multiple stakeholders, involving international experts, student experts and labour market representatives in the authorisation and accreditation processes. Currently, the NCEQE is working on updating the authorisation standards to better reflect current needs of HEIs in Georgia. Currently the NCEQE is also developing the quality assurance standards for doctoral educational programmes.
Georgia contributes to BFUG Thematic Peer Group (TPG) A on QF, TPG B on LRC and TPG C on Quality Assurance, the BFUG Working Group on Learning and Teaching and the BFUG Working Group on Social Dimension. Georgia also participates in different international projects funded by Erasmus +.
Information about relevant projects and initiatives
N | Project name | Objectives | Length of project | Keywords | Links |
1 | USAID Rule of Law programme | USAID Rule of Law Programme assists the NCEQE in the implementation of national standards on legal education and law school accreditation (Law Benchmarks Document). The programme supports partner university law schools in Tbilisi and in Georgia’s regions to improve their curricula and teaching practices. A major point of emphasis of the Rule of Law programme is to create opportunities for experiential learning for law students and expand its support to legal clinics. It also supports law schools to develop street law programmes through which law students gain skills by teaching practical law-related issues to secondary law students. | 2022-2027 | development and revision of educational resources , teacher professional development , teaching and learning |
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2 | USAID Educating the Future Programme | USAID/Georgia’s Educating the Future Programme will strengthen the quality of pre-service teacher training programmes, improve school governance, and support education decentralization. The Programme aims to support the government of Georgia in developing policies for continuous professional development for school administrators and crafting decentralization policies with a focus on Educational Resource Centres. | 2023-2028 | teaching and learning, capacity-building of the resource centers, institutional capacity building of the ministry or the state agency |
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3 | Innovation, inclusiveness and quality project - Georgia I2Q | The project (I2Q project) is an important facilitating mechanism for education reform. It is in compliance with the 2019-2022 framework document of the partnership of the World Bank with Georgia and aims to increase the availability of early and preschool education, raise the quality of general and higher education and improve the learning environment. | 2020-2025 | innovation, inclusiveness, better learning environment |
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4 | Georgia Human Capital Programme | The project has been financed by the World Bank and aims to make human capital delivery systems more inclusive and efficient | 2022-2028 | development, capacity building, university admission model |
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