Scholarships for Georgian Students at US Universities
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Sep 18, 2026 • Updated Sep 18, 2026
Georgian students fund US study mainly through the Fulbright Graduate Student Program, the government's IEC scholarship, and a short list of universities that admit international students without regard to ability to pay. Most other awards are partial and stack on top of these.
🎓 Fulbright Graduate Student Program covers a full master's degree, tuition, stipend, and travel.
💵 The Georgian Government Scholarship Fund (IEC) averages about $20,000 a year toward a master's or PhD.
🎓 A small group of US universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and MIT, admit international students need-blind and meet full demonstrated need. Georgetown is need-blind too but does not guarantee full need for international students.
📩 The Muskie Professional Fellowship adds a paid or unpaid internship, but only for students already holding a Fulbright grant.
🏠 Graduate assistantships pay a stipend and waive tuition, most reliably at the PhD level.
Free advising is available in person at EducationUSA centers in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe, and Telavi.
Start with the two named awards built for Georgian students
Two funding programs exist specifically for Georgian citizens who want a US graduate degree. Both are competitive and both are worth applying to even if you also plan to apply for university aid, since they do not lock you out of other offers.
Fulbright Graduate Student Program
The Fulbright Graduate Student Program is run through the Public Diplomacy Section of the US Embassy Tbilisi and co-sponsored by Georgia's Ministry of Education, Science and Youth along with Bank of Georgia and Georgia Capital. It funds a full master's degree in the United States: tuition, a monthly living stipend, health insurance, and round-trip travel. Selection runs through an open competition managed by the embassy, not by individual universities, so you do not apply to a specific school first. Applications typically close around July 1 each year for study starting the following academic year. Check the embassy page directly for the current cycle's deadline and eligibility rules before you start your application.
Georgian Government Scholarship Fund (IEC)
Georgia's own Georgian Government Scholarship Fund , run by the International Education Center (IEC), pays for master's and PhD study at recognized universities worldwide, including in the United States. An average award covers about $20,000 a year toward tuition, and the fund offers both full and partial scholarships based on academic merit. The application deadline falls around the end of May each year. IEC accepts applicants in almost any field, with slight restrictions on MBA and LLM (business law) programs. Recipients commit to returning to Georgia for at least three years of professional work after finishing the degree, so weigh this obligation against your longer-term plans before you apply. Full details and the application portal sit at iec.gov.ge .
Muskie Professional Fellowship: an add-on, not a standalone award
The Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship places current Fulbright Foreign Student Program grantees from Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and several other countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia into a paid or unpaid internship in the United States. It builds professional experience alongside a Fulbright-funded degree. You cannot apply for Muskie on its own. You become eligible only after you already hold a Fulbright grant, so treat it as a benefit of winning Fulbright rather than a separate funding source to plan around.
University aid: a short list that admits you regardless of what you can pay
A small number of highly selective US universities, among them Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Amherst College, Dartmouth, and Bowdoin College, admit international applicants need-blind, meaning your family's finances play no part in the admission decision, and then meet 100 percent of your demonstrated financial need if you are admitted. Georgetown also admits international applicants need-blind, but it does not commit to meeting full demonstrated financial need for them, so aid there is limited and competitive. Getting in is the hard part. Admission rates at these schools sit in the low single digits for international applicants, and a Georgian secondary school record alone will not carry an application, so build the rest of your profile (test scores where required, essays, extracurricular depth) around the same standard as any other applicant.
Outside that short list, hundreds of other US universities award partial, non-need-based scholarships specifically to international students, ranging from a few thousand dollars a year to a full tuition waiver. These vary enormously by school and by year, so check the international admissions and financial aid pages of each university on your list rather than assuming a fixed amount.
Graduate assistantships fund PhDs more reliably than master's
Many US PhD programs, especially in STEM fields, fund admitted students through a teaching or research assistantship. In exchange for teaching sections or working in a lab, the university waives your tuition and pays a monthly stipend to cover living costs. This is standard practice at the doctoral level and worth asking about directly when you contact a department. Master's programs offer assistantships less consistently, and mostly in research-heavy fields, so confirm funding availability with the specific department before you commit to a master's application.
Where to get free, unbiased help
EducationUSA, the US State Department's official advising network, runs centers across Georgia in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe, and Telavi. Advisers there help you build a balanced list of universities, compare financial aid offers, and avoid scholarship scams, all at no cost. This differs from private consultancies, which often earn a commission from the schools they steer you toward. Find your nearest center through the EducationUSA advising center directory .
When each option opens and closes
| Funding source | Typical deadline | Degree level |
|---|---|---|
| Georgian Government Scholarship Fund (IEC) | End of May | Master's, PhD |
| Fulbright Graduate Student Program | Around July 1 | Master's |
| University need-blind and merit aid | Follows each school's admission deadline, usually November to January for fall entry | Undergraduate, master's |
| PhD assistantships | Follows each department's admission deadline, often December to January | PhD, some research master's |
Notice that IEC and Fulbright both close well before most US university application deadlines. Apply to them first, then use your university applications, need-blind or otherwise, as the layer underneath in case a named award does not come through.
Avoid scholarship scams
A legitimate scholarship never asks you to pay an application fee, a "processing fee," or a deposit to secure an award. It never guarantees admission or funding in exchange for money before a decision is made. If an agency contacts you claiming to represent Fulbright, IEC, or a specific university and asks for payment to "improve your chances," stop the conversation and verify directly on the official page linked above. EducationUSA advisers screen these situations regularly and can tell you quickly whether an offer is real.
Build a funding plan, not a single application
Apply to Fulbright and the IEC scholarship on their own timelines, since both close months before most US university deadlines. In parallel, apply to a mix of need-blind schools and universities known for international student aid in your field, and ask each department directly about assistantship funding if you are aiming for a PhD. Combining one named award with university aid or an assistantship is common practice and gives you a fallback if the named awards do not come through.