State scholarship to study abroad attracts vast interest

Students all around the country are crossing their fingers and hoping they will be selected for a new Governmental scholarship that will allow them to study abroad.

The International Education Centre of Georgia has begun the tricky task of reviewing more than 1,000 applications from hopeful students who wish to study at some of the world’s best universities.

Almost 1,280 applications have been received and entered into the Centre database, out of which 514 made specific choices based on programs they wished to study. There are not a fixed number of scholarships.

The Centre said the majority of applicants were interested in graduate programs, primarily in business administration, followed by social sciences and law. Most planned to study in at Universities in Great Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.

A total of 20 applications were received for Bachelor programs, 44 for PhD programs and 435 for Masters Degrees. In addition, 15 people applied for skill improvement and vocational training programs.

The most popular programs were Business Administration (133), Social Science (120) and Justice (99). This was followed by Arts and Humanities (70), Engineering and Technology (29), Agricultural Sciences (16), Health and Medical Directions (15), Education (10), Urban Development, Architecture, Restoration and Conservation (8), Exact and Natural Sciences (8), Defense and Security (4) and Environment and Natural Resources Protection (2).

The International Education Centre was created in May to make international higher education accessible for Georgian citizens, provide the public sector with qualified staff and bring international knowledge into Georgia.

Applications for scholarships were open from May 7 until June 7.

Those who are granted a scholarship must return to Georgia once they have completed their Degrees and serve in the public sector for at least three years and use their knowledge to aid the development of the country.

The total cost of the project is expected to reach 7 million GEL.