The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) initiated a research project with the objective of analyzing the trends and patterns in the organization of private higher education. The present publication is the outcome of a study carried out in Georgia within the framework of the above-mentioned research project. The present study shows what happens when a state-based, centrally planned economic system collapses. The author has elaborated on the proliferation of private higher education institutions immediately after the collapse of the centrally planned system. Many of these private institutions were unable to survive due to their incapacity to attract a number of fee-paying students large enough to contribute to the financial stability of the institution. Some of those institutions had to close down in the years immediately following their establishment.
