EUA Board calls for the safeguarding of autonomy, diversity and inclusive governance for universities in Georgia

This includes the National Concept for the Reform of the Higher Education System presented in late 2025 and subsequent legislative and regulatory measures adopted in recent months. This initiative envisages fundamental restructuring with profound and  long-term consequences for the country’s public universities, potentially resulting in further isolation of the sector on the European stage.

Indeed, the reform is far-reaching and includes many dimensions, combining an in-depth geographical and disciplinary reorganisation with the standardisation of one-year master’s programmes, a review of curricula and teaching materials, changes in statutes and salaries of academic staff, alignment of student places across universities based on a labour market analysis and a revision of the funding model based on ‘state needs’.

While EUA recognises the state’s role in steering the system, initiating reforms, setting national priorities and incentivising policy agendas, reform processes should respect essential principles. They should be inclusive, transparent and evidence-based. Moreover, they should involve all stakeholders and institutions that may be affected by the reform.

Reform processes must also plan for transition periods that allow for assessment and adaptation of the course of action as needed. This is particularly important where proposed measures are expected to have a significant or differentiated impact on individual institutions or on their academic profiles and long-term development. Structural changes to the higher education system, such as those of the magnitude put forward in Georgia, carry far-reaching, hard-to-anticipate consequences. Therefore, they require particularly careful scrutiny, as their effects will be difficult to reverse.

Over the past 25 years, EUA has supported the European higher education sector through evidence-based research and capacity building. In particular, the Association has examined the relationship between the state and higher education institutions through the Europe-wide university Autonomy Scorecard. Successful reforms typically strengthen institutional autonomy, diversity and interdisciplinary capacity. While many higher education systems face challenges similar to those identified in Georgia, recent reforms in other European countries have not proposed such drastic reductions in disciplinary scope. This may risk undermining institutional performance, resilience, and autonomy. Elements of the proposed reform in Georgia raise concerns in this respect.

Among the most salient aspects of the reform is a major ‘rationalisation’ endeavour, transforming universities into specialised higher education providers with significantly reduced academic profiles. Measures that substantially limit the range of programmes that universities are authorised to offer will constrain their ability to sustain comprehensive academic environments and interdisciplinary collaboration. While EUA encourages universities to define strategic profiles, this should always be done in a way that preserves and deepens the institution’s inter- and trans-disciplinary offer both in research and teaching activities. The ‘One city – one faculty’ concept also risks weakening links between the three core missions of the university: research, teaching and service to society.

The impact of this reform will affect the Georgian university sector in different ways. In certain cases, the consequences will be profound and lasting, directly affecting the identity, expertise and recognition of the institution. Not only does the reform put forward centralised control over academic programmes and set annual student quotas; it also undermines institutional governance and strategic planning, at a time where universities urgently need strategic autonomy to navigate today’s complex challenges and ‘polycrisis’.

Academic freedom and institutional autonomy are essential for universities to fulfil their missions and drive the knowledge economy. EUA also emphasises that interdisciplinary approaches should be more fully leveraged to address societal challenges across all university missions, as outlined in our vision for 2030, ‘Universities without walls’. Finally, the Association considers it essential that structural reforms are paired with broad, meaningful consultation and recalibration. This will help to ensure that reforms are fit for purpose, realistic, proportionate and aligned with the interests of both the higher education and research sector and wider society.

EUA remains committed to informing public debates and the Association’s Board reiterates its readiness to engage in dialogue with national authorities and the higher education community in Georgia by sharing comparative evidence and expertise, as it has done in numerous higher education reform processes across Europe.