Paid for one university, enrolled in another: Georgia's agent problem, and the state-university ban that will reshape the market in 2026

Georgia became one of the fastest-growing destinations for medical students in the world in the space of three years, and its agent problem grew with it. Georgia Today reports that the number of international students in the country rose from about 17,500 in 2021–22 to 37,100 in 2024–25, most of them from India and most of them studying medicine; at Tbilisi State Medical University, international students make up roughly 45% of the student body.

The complaints followed the money. Careers360's guide to studying in Georgia, compiled from the 2024–25 admission season, records the recurring pattern: students who paid for a place at one university and, after payment, were told their "promised university was changed"; agents who took money and disappeared without producing visa documents; hostels and "Indian mess" facilities promised and not provided; and universities that were not on India's approved list, leaving the degree unusable at home. The Varanasi case published separately on this site — ₹10.85 lakh for a Georgian seat, followed by the reporter's original documents being held for a further ₹2 lakh — is the same pattern at the level of one family.

The university-switch is worth understanding because it looks like customer service. The agent has been paid for university A; university A has no seat, or the agent never applied; on arrival the student is told that "due to capacity" they will study at university B — often a private institution with a commission agreement, weaker facilities and a lower licensing-exam pass rate. The family, thousands of kilometres away with a child already abroad, accepts.

Then the ground shifted. On 4 December 2025, Georgia Today reported, Education Minister Givi Mikanadze announced that state universities would stop enrolling foreign students from the next academic year, to "focus resources on Georgian citizens"; Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze confirmed that international applicants would be redirected to private universities. Tbilisi State Medical University stands to lose an estimated GEL 80 million a year. The policy applies to future admissions, not to students already enrolled.

For anyone considering Georgia now, three things follow. Any agent still selling a seat at a state university for the coming intake is selling something the government says will not exist. Private universities will absorb the demand, and the difference between the good and the bad among them is exactly the difference the agent is paid not to explain. And the only reliable protections are the same as everywhere: the offer letter confirmed by the university's own international office, tuition paid to the university's account, your regulator's list checked before the first payment, and your passport and certificates never out of your hands.