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Success Story
USAID helps establish
one of the top business
schools in the former
Soviet Union
Building a Top Business School
Photo: Eurasia Foundation/Brian Randall
Caucasus Business School students
joyfully celebrate graduation day.
“We believe that if it stays
on its current path,
Caucasus Business School
will grow to become one of
the top business schools in
the territory of the former
Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe.”
> — Professor Bijan
Fazlollahi, Georgia
State University (U.S.)
Georgia’s transition from a centrally planned economy to one
that is market oriented has been a painful process. After an initial
collapse, the economy has been slow to rebuild. Georgia
needed young, top business graduates to help, but in the late
1990s, not one MBA program was offered in the country.
With an eye on facilitating this economic transition, USAID
helped support the establishment of the Caucasus School
of Business in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi.
Without government funding, the MBA program had to be
tuition based — a challenge in a country where paying for
education is not the norm. For the program to break even
financially, it needed 80 tuition-paying students. Prospects
looked grim the first year, but by the end of 2001 the
school was well on the road to becoming self-sustaining.
To develop a strong cadre of teachers, the school established
a faculty exchange program, bringing in lecturers
from partner schools in the United States, as well as professors
and administrators from Atlanta. In addition, many
of the Caucasus Business School’s staff have had the opportunity
to spend a semester in Atlanta, auditing courses and being
mentored by American professors. USAID funding was also
used to improve the school’s library, work toward obtaining international
accreditation and fund faculty research activities.
Caucasus Business School has today grown into a highly regarded
and financially self-sustaining institution with strong
academic programs. “The school has proven to be one of the
most successful and popular higher education institutions in
Georgia with international teaching standards,” said U.S. Ambassador
Richard Miles.
The program offers degrees in finance and accounting, management,
marketing, and international business. Taught in English,
courses are offered in the evenings and on Saturdays to
allow working students the flexibility to attend the program. And
the school’s graduates are starting to fill the management ranks
of Georgia’s most successful businesses. Levan Gogoladze, a
graduate of the school and ProCredit Bank branch manager
said, “The diploma is of great value in Georgia, where employers
need qualified staff.” Mr. Gogoladze himself has hired four
graduates of the Caucasus School of Business.
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