Georgia Tops MBBS Choice Over Ukraine for Indian Students

(GEORGIA) Indian students are shifting their medical education plans from Ukraine to Georgia, with money sent from India for education in Georgia rising nearly fivefold in six years as the war in Ukraine drags on. Reserve Bank of India data show education-related remittances to Georgia jumped from $10.33 million in 2018-19 to $50.25 million in 2024-25, reflecting a sharp change in destination choices for MBBS studies and a reordering of where Indian families are willing to invest for a medical degree abroad.

The same RBI data show Ukraine’s decline has been equally stark. Indian education remittances to Ukraine fell from $14.80 million in 2018-19 to just $2.40 million in 2024-25 after peaking at $39.12 million in 2020-21, when Ukraine ranked among Indian students’ top choices for medical training. Families that once budgeted for a six-year MBBS in cities like Kharkiv and Kyiv are now wiring tuition and living costs to Tbilisi and Batumi instead, a move driven by safety concerns, the availability of English-medium programs, and relatively predictable rules for visas and residency in Georgia.

“Georgia has been popular for its medical courses. It was quite popular even before the war because of its proximity to Europe, and because it was very cost effective. Their laws for residency are simple, and medical graduates can consider living and working there,” said Pratibha Jain, CEO of Eduabroad Consulting.

She added that the war made the calculus simpler for many families who had been weighing costs against perceived risks in Eastern Europe even before Russia’s invasion in 2022.

Official figures presented in the Indian Parliament capture the scale of the student shift. Indian student departures to Georgia rose from 4,148 in 2019 to 10,470 in 2023, underscoring how quickly MBBS studies have migrated south of the Caucasus. The Indian Embassy in Tbilisi estimates that more than 16,000 Indian students were enrolled in Georgian universities in 2024, indicating continued momentum as successive intakes choose Georgia over embattled Ukraine. The remittance surge cited by the RBI under its Liberalised Remittance Scheme corresponds closely with those headcounts, linking money flows to the actual growth in student numbers on Georgian campuses.

Cost remains central to the decision. Annual tuition fees for MBBS courses in Georgia range from $4,000 to $7,500 per year, putting the six-year total at $24,000 in places like Batumi and Akaki universities and up to $45,000 at David Tvildiani Medical University (DTMU). Grigol Robakidze University (GRUNI) in Tbilisi, cited by education consultants as a leading institution, charges about $5,500 per year. Education agents and university officials say these fees are often paired with moderate living costs, making the overall price tag lower than many Western options while keeping instruction in English. Prospective students and parents also point to approvals and recognitions as markers of credibility; GRUNI is approved by India’s National Medical Commission (NMC) and the World Health Organization, a reassurance for those thinking ahead to licensing and postgraduate options at home and abroad.

For families still recovering from the disruption of 2022, Georgia’s role as a transfer destination has been particularly important. Many Indian students who began their MBBS studies in Ukraine relocated to Georgian universities, often able to continue without losing significant academic time. University administrators in Georgia have responded by expanding facilities and support services tailored to Indian students, including help with accommodation, language support for clinical rotations, and guidance on residency procedures after graduation. The demand, they say, is steady across intakes as new applicants join those who transferred mid-course.

Jain said the war has made safety a top criterion on student checklists, pushing Georgia up the preference order precisely because it had already built a reputation for affordability and English-medium instruction.

“Georgia was popular even before the war, but its popularity has surged as students prioritise safety. They can complete their studies here and also find employment opportunities,” she said.

Consultants also note that parents track not just headline tuition but the predictability of visa pathways and the clarity of post-study options, areas where Georgia is perceived as more straightforward than many countries.

The money trail from India quantifies those choices in hard numbers. RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme data, which track outward remittances by purpose, show a 387% rise in education remittances to Georgia between 2018-19 and 2024-25, a surge mirrored by the decline to Ukraine after the war began. The reversal is striking because, as recently as 2020-21, Ukraine was pulling in $39.12 million in Indian education remittances compared to Georgia’s $10.33 million two years prior. By 2024-25, that relationship had flipped, with Georgia at $50.25 million and Ukraine at $2.40 million. For families converting rupees to dollars for semesters abroad, those flows represent down payments, hostel fees, and monthly budgets shifted wholesale from one country to another in pursuit of stable learning environments.

While Georgia and Russia have drawn new interest for medical studies since 2022, the broader picture of Indian student mobility remains diverse. The United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Germany still rank as top destinations overall, though 2024-25 saw different remittance patterns. In the same period, remittances to the United States fell by 10% and to Canada by 43%, while Germany recorded a 70% increase, according to the same RBI data. Education counselors say that those trends reflect a mix of visa policies, wait times, and cost pressures, but for MBBS aspirants focused on a six-year medical path, Georgia’s mix of price, English instruction, and day-to-day safety has been decisive.

The practical realities of MBBS studies also weigh heavily. Indian applicants typically compare course structures, teaching language, clinical exposure, and whether graduates can navigate licensing requirements back in India or move into residency tracks in Europe. Georgian medical universities have leaned into those concerns by benchmarking curricula against international standards and publicizing recognition by bodies like the NMC and WHO. The presence of a large Indian cohort — the embassy’s estimate of over 16,000 in 2024 — makes it easier for incoming students to find peer networks and housing, and has prompted universities to staff student services with Hindi- and English-speaking advisors. Those nuts-and-bolts supports are often the difference between a smooth adjustment and a semester lost to paperwork snags.

In conversations with consultants, parents increasingly ask about the safety of campus neighborhoods and the status of instruction in the clinical years, where patients and hospital staff may not speak English. Georgia’s universities have responded by allocating rotations where English is the working language, according to counselors, and by arranging structured medical Georgian language classes for bedside communication. For Indian families accustomed to taking leave from work to accompany a child during the first months of study abroad, that clarity on hospital placements and local language training adds confidence that the investment will not run aground after preclinical years.

The visa and residency outlook also plays a role. Counselors point to comparatively simple visa procedures and post-study residency options in Georgia, factors that matter to students who envision gaining local clinical experience before deciding whether to return to India or pursue exams elsewhere. Clear residency pathways are not just abstract policy points — they affect the choice of where to build early-career networks and apply for internships, and they influence whether graduates can bridge the gap between finishing MBBS and securing a training spot. In that context, Jain’s emphasis on “simple” residency rules resonates with families seeking fewer hurdles during and after medical school.

For those who were displaced from Ukraine in 2022, the ability to transfer without forfeiting years of study has been critical. Consultants say Georgian universities accepted academic records from Ukrainian institutions and placed students into comparable years, avoiding the reset that can be financially devastating. Families that had already paid for two or three years in Ukraine then recalibrated budgets to cover Georgian fees — ranging from $24,000 for six years at lower-fee institutions to $45,000 at DTMU — along with relocation costs. The RBI’s remittances data give a macro view of thousands of those individual adjustments, with each student’s transfer reflected in tuition payments, rent deposits, and day-to-day spending wired from India.

Georgia’s appeal to Indian MBBS aspirants sits within a broader recalibration of study-abroad plans after the pandemic and amid shifting visa policies in traditional destinations. Even as the United States and Canada remain highly sought after for master’s and doctoral programs, medical students who need a long, linear pathway and cost certainty have opted for Georgia’s more predictable setup. Germany’s 70% increase in education remittances in 2024-25 shows the strength of other pathways too, particularly where public universities and work-study options lower net expenses. But for MBBS, the combination of English instruction and defined six-year structures in Georgia has been the standout.

The reputational shift can be seen in counseling sessions, where Georgia is now listed among the first options for students who might previously have begun with Ukraine on their shortlists. Consultants cite proximity to Europe and links to regional clinical networks as additional selling points. Tbilisi’s growing Indian student neighborhoods, complete with grocery stores catering to Indian staples and student-run study groups for licensing exams, have helped cement a liveable ecosystem for newcomers. Those practical details often feed back into word-of-mouth referrals, reinforcing the RBI’s numbers with successive cohorts of classmates following friends to the same campuses.

For parents watching their children leave home for the first time, the granular calculations behind remittances are as personal as they are financial. Semester payments, hostel deposits, and emergency funds move through the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme channels, which cap and classify outward flows and allow the central bank to report by purpose. Education-related remittances to Georgia moving from $10.33 million to $50.25 million between 2018-19 and 2024-25 tell a precise story in dollars and cents of Indian households reassessing MBBS studies under the shadow of war. The corresponding slide in Ukraine’s education remittances to $2.40 million in 2024-25, after a $39.12 million peak in 2020-21, underscores how sudden geopolitical shocks can reshape where young doctors learn their craft.

Counselors and families alike stress that none of this makes the process easy. Indian students still face competitive admissions, adaptation to new teaching styles, and the need to plan for licensing exams in India if they intend to return. But the stability of day-to-day life, the availability of English-medium teaching, and the clarity of fees make Georgia a choice many now view as safer and more manageable. As Jain put it,

“Georgia was popular even before the war, but its popularity has surged as students prioritise safety. They can complete their studies here and also find employment opportunities.”

The choices show up on Georgian campuses that have grown used to large Indian cohorts and are adding lab space, hostel rooms, and student advisors to keep up. Administrators say Indian students who transferred mid-course from Ukraine in 2022 have been joined by fresh intakes each year since, creating a layered community of seniors and juniors who organize study groups and volunteer to help newcomers settle in. With the Indian Embassy in Tbilisi counting more than 16,000 Indian students in 2024, that community is likely to shape how universities design student services, clinical placements, and support for licensing pathways in the years ahead.

For policymakers tracking the flows, the RBI’s numbers under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme offer a clear, timely indicator of where the money — and therefore the students — are going. Education remittances to Georgia at $50.25 million in 2024-25, up 387% from 2018-19, map onto student counts that have more than doubled since 2019. Ukraine, once a pillar of Indian MBBS plans, has seen its education remittances fall to $2.40 million in 2024-25, and the war has turned what was once a routine choice into a risk too far for most families. As the next admission cycle begins, Georgia’s universities, already charging $4,000 to $7,500 per year and teaching largely in English, expect the trend to hold.

For families preparing paperwork and planning budgets, the policy framework is unchanged but the destination is not. Education remittances move under the Reserve Bank’s scheme and show up in the annual tallies that now tell the story of Georgian campuses filling with Indian MBBS aspirants. The decision to choose Georgia, accelerated by conflict and cemented by practical considerations, has redrawn the map of Indian medical education abroad in numbers large enough to see from New Delhi to Tbilisi. For more on how outward remittances for education are regulated, readers can consult the Reserve Bank of India – Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) FAQ, the framework under which families send tuition and living expenses overseas.