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If you want to study in Kazakhstan, then you need to know which of its universities are right for you. Times Higher Education World University Rankings take the top institutions in the world, and look at their performance across all of their core objectives: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

There are over 100 universities in the country but Kazakhstan has two universities in the overall Times Higher Education World University Rankings . The highest-ranking university in Kazakhstan is Al-Farabi Kazakh National University , which is ranked at number 801–1000.

Choosing where to study for a degree in Kazakhstan is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. THE ’s student resources are here to help you make the right choice, particularly if you want to study abroad. Explore the universities of Kazakhstan below - we’ve pulled together some information that we hope will help you to decide where to study.

Use the map to see where Kazakhstan’s top universities are located, and if any institutions are of particular interest, you can click on their name, or the “explore” button, to find out more. We’ve also pulled in information about how much Kazakhstan is investing in its higher education, and also how many people live there.

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The share of students enrolled in public institutions of higher education was 45.1%, in private organizations – 54.1%, in foreign organizations – 0.7%.

According to the admission quota, 64.3 thousand people study in higher education institutions, of which 23.3 thousand people are children from families with four or more minor children, 19.3 thousand people are citizens from among rural youth, 9.8 thousand people are children from single–parent families.

Of the total number of enrolled students, 71.7% were accepted on the basis of general secondary education, 19.7% – on the basis of technical and vocational education and 8.7% – on the basis of higher education.

At the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year, 37391 teachers were employed in higher education organizations of the republic, of which 14982 people (40.1%) have an academic master's degree, 10504 people (28.1%) have a PhD degree, 4168 people (27.8%) have a PhD degree.

At the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the number of operating higher education institutions amounted to 112 organizations, including 77 universities, including research, 14 academies, 10 institutes and equivalent conservatories, higher schools and higher schools, 8 national higher education institutions, 3 national research universities.

• At the beginning of the 2023/2024 academic year higher education in the Republic of Kazakhstan

Over the past 5 years, the number of organizations implementing higher education programs has decreased by 9.6%.

Compared to the 2018-2019 academic year, the number of students increased by 9.3%, but since 2019 there has been a decrease in this indicator.

Compared to the 2018-2019 academic year, the number of students in private educational institutions increased by 30.2 thousand people or 10.4%, in public organizations – by 21.4 thousand people or 8.7%. In foreign-owned educational institutions, this indicator decreased by 24.4%.

The organization of higher and (or) postgraduate education is a higher educational institution that implements educational programs of higher and (or) postgraduate education and carries out research activities.

A university is an organization of higher and (or) postgraduate education that carries out scientific and pedagogical activities in various fields, personnel training, fundamental and (or) applied scientific research and is a leading scientific and methodological center.

The National Organization of Higher and (or) postgraduate education is an organization of higher and (or) postgraduate education that has a special status.

A research university is a university that implements a five–year development program approved by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and uses the results of its activities to integrate education and science, generate and transfer new knowledge and technologies.

National Research University is a research university with a special status.

An institute is an organization of higher and (or) postgraduate education that carries out scientific and pedagogical activities, as well as training personnel for professional activities.

An academy is an organization of higher and (or) postgraduate education that carries out scientific and pedagogical activities in a certain field and is a scientific and methodological center.

Bachelor's degree is a higher education, the educational programs of which are aimed at training personnel with the award of a bachelor's degree in the relevant specialty.

Bachelor's degree is a degree awarded to persons who have completed educational programs of higher education.

Educational programs of higher education are implemented in organizations of higher and (or) postgraduate education.

The main types of organizations of higher and (or) postgraduate education are the national research university, the national organization of higher and (or) postgraduate education, research university, university, academy, institute and equivalent to them (conservatory, higher school, higher school).

A student who has passed the final certification for the development of an educational program of higher education is awarded a bachelor's degree or a specialist qualification.

Statistical collection «Education in the Republic of Kazakhstan»

• Metodological position on statistics
• «Report of organizations of higher and postgtaduate education», OVPO form
• Information and analytical system "Taldau"

British Council Kazakhstan

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Internationalisation of Higher Education in Kazakhstan

The British Council works to support the reforms being implemented by the Government of Kazakhstan to modernise and internationalise the country’s higher education system. 

We provide training and capacity building support to higher education institutions in Kazakhstan. Since 2015, we have delivered over 70 workshops and events engaging more than 1,900 researchers, faculty and administrative staff at universities across Kazakhstan.

In 2017-2018 the British Council carried out a piece of research into internationalisation strategies at regional universities in Kazakhstan, looking at what has been achieved, the challenges faced and identifying best practice. We also provided training to senior university managers.  

In this section you can find materials from the management training workshop, as well as a report produced as a result of the research into internationalisation strategies at regional universities.

INTERNATIONALISATION at Kazakhstani Regional Universities .

Internationalisation in Kazakhstani universities: learning from the regions.

Management training workshop

Documents available for download:

• Action plan notes
• Action learning
• Autonomy and governance
• Internationalisation strategy

Welcome to Kazakhstan!

As one of the fastest growing countries, kazakhstan has become a promising place for higher education in central asia.

Educational Programs

Study in kazakhstan.

Education in Kazakhstan

Education system, secondary education, technical and vocational education, higher education.

Kazakhstan's education system helps to gain knowledge that enables to get a profession later. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, education is divided into general and vocational. School (secondary) education is divided into the classes: primary (grades 1-4), basic and senior. Primary vocational education (after the 9th grade) can be obtained in the specialized lyceums, while secondary vocational education can be received in the specialized schools or colleges.

The education system in the Republic of Kazakhstan consists of the several education l evels : 

• preschool education and training;
• primary education;
• basic secondary education;
• secondary education (general secondary education, technical and vocational education);
• post-secondary education;
• graduate education;
• post-graduate education.

The education system is supervised by the relevant ministries: Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Secondary education in Kazakhstan is compulsory and includes primary, basic secondary (9 grades) and general secondary (11 (12) grades) education. There is also a vocational and secondary vocational education.

Children aged 6 years old are admitted to the first grade of school. Education in schools of Kazakhstan is comprised of 3 levels: primary (1-4 grades), basic (5-9 grades) and senior (10-11 (12) grades). Educational programs are developed for comprehensive development of capabilities of the especially gifted students and are implemented in the specialized schools for gifted children.

Technical and vocational education is aimed at training of qualified workers and middle-ranking specialists and is delivered in the academies, colleges and tertiary colleges based on the basic secondary and (or) general secondary education.

The technical and vocational education in the country is delivered in the 772 technical and vocational education organizations, of which 446 are public and 326 are private. The total amount of students in technical and vocational education organizations is 517.3 thousand people, of which 312 thousand people have studied under the state order.

The major tasks of technical and vocational education are the following:

- the training of qualified workers and middle-ranking specialists;

- expanding the coverage of free-of-charge technical and vocational education;

- increasing the target state order at the request of the enterprises (10 thousand people annually);

- increasing the amount of scholarships for students of technical and vocational education organizations;

• creating conditions for increasing the accessibility of technical and vocational education;
• improving financial stability and targeted support of technical and vocational education;
• improving corporate governance of technical and vocational education;
• organizing and developing social partnership in the system of technical and vocational education;
• creating equal conditions and barrier-free access for students with special educational needs;
• ensuring consistency and continuity between the levels of education;
• expanding international cooperation in the field of personnel training and re-training of in the technical and vocational education organizations.

In order to ensure the accessibility of technical and vocational education, since last year, the state order has been placed under the principle "money follows the student" . Earlier the admission to the colleges was carried out according to the allocated places under the state order and currently the fellows could select the colleges and specialties as per their will. These measures ensure the transparency of state order distribution and admission of applicants to the colleges.

The applicants will be able to apply to the colleges through the Egov.kz portal or directly to the college. The applicants can choose up to 4 specialties and up to 4 colleges.

All the school graduates will be given an opportunity to undergo professional diagnostics through the education departments’ information systems. As a result, the applicants will get recommendations to select a particular specialty and be familiar with the datasheets of recommended industries.

The competition is conducted through the education departments’ information systems based on the diploma average score under required and vocation-related disciplines.

Also, the new mechanism is aimed at 100% coverage of the graduates with free-of-charge college tuition under highly demanded specialties.

Currently, higher education in Kazakhstan is at the stage of dynamic development that is dictated by scientific and technological progress requirements. Recently, the republic has undertaken global measures to upgrade and reform the education through introducing top notch teaching methods and developing up-to-date infrastructure and providing full-fledged student support.

Higher education structure and study format

Today, the Kazakhstani higher education system in the context of the Bologna process parameters is of the following structure:

• Baccalaureate is higher educational programs intended for cohort study with awarded bachelor's degree under relevant specialty.
• A scientific and pedagogical direction with a study period of at least two years;
• A discipline direction with a study period of at least one year.
• a scientific and pedagogical direction with a study period of at least three years;
• a discipline based direction with a study period of at least three years.

Today, the number of universities in the country is 120 , of which national universities – 11 , state – 29 (non-profit joint-stock companies), international university – 1 , corporate universities – 16 , private – 48 , autonomous – 1 (Nazarbayev University), non-civilian – 14 .

Study format

Today, Kazakhstanis have the opportunity to receive higher education under the following study format:

• Full time or classroom study. Under this format a student must attend seminars and lectures in classrooms.
• Distance learning. Internet based learning. Assignments and educational materials are posted online for self-study. Online consultations are upon request. Diploma projects defense is the higher educational institution intramural conducted.

The most important aspect of higher education development in the country is the creation of a culture of academic integrity. For this purpose, the League of Academic Integrity had been created in 2018 as an independent and self-established organization following the example of the Ivy League in the USA, the Russell Group in the UK and C9 in China.

Admission to universities

The citizens who have acquired general secondary or technical and vocational education or post-secondary education also have the opportunity to receive higher education. There is possibility to go through a shortened educational programs process with an accelerated study period for the persons with acquired technical and vocational, post-secondary or higher education with re-crediting the grades  and crediting the earlier grades of disciplines accomplished provided for the sufficiency of the scope of study and continuity of the educational program.

In Kazakhstan, admission to universities is based on the Unified National Testing (UNT) results. Since 2017, they have been passing overall school exams attestation to obtain a certificate of secondary education, “Altyn Belgi” (with honors) and UNT score for admission to universities and receiving government grants for studying at universities. Since 2019, there is a possibility for school graduates to take the UNT four (4) times a year.

The UNT in electronic format is carried out in the following terms:

• from January 10 to February 10 (one attempt);
• from March 1-31 (one attempt);
• from May 16 to July 5 (main UNT for receiving a government grant, two attempts);
• from August 10 to August 20 (one attempt).

Applications are accepted (online) on the website www.testcenter.kz of the National Testing Center within the following deadlines:

• from December 20 to January 6 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from February 20 to March 10 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from April 28 to May 14 of the calendar year for individuals;
• from July 20 to July 30 of the calendar year for persons.

Admission to the university after a re-test is done is possible only on a paid basis; and the government grants are distributed upon passing the main UNT (in May-July of the year).

At the end of a bachelor's program study a student receives in-depth knowledge of occupation. Studying in master programs is of advanced specialty. In Kazakhstan, students can study in one specialty at the bachelor's program, and continue their graduate studies at the master program in another specialty. At the end, the student has the opportunity to master two specialties and hold down the financial and time costs of receiving the second higher education.

Studying in higher educational institutions of Kazakhstan is organized both on the basis of government educational order and at the student’s own expense. The major of government educational grants is allocated for the study of technical specialists and teachers. Almost half of the total number of educational grant holders are representatives of a socially vulnerable group of the population. In addition to the government educational grants, the universities expand an access to receiving the higher education through corporate grants and tuition allowances.

Government scholarship

To encourage the school youth and provide the opportunity to obtain higher education at universities within the country, the Government will allocate scholarship to the students. The government scholarship is divided into:

• It is paid to the students who accomplished the session with “good” and “excellent” grades.
• Increased (+15% to the basic). It is assigned to the students who accomplished the session with “excellent” grades.
• Presidential (+100% to the basic). Students with special merits such as creative, scientific research, sports, social and cultural etc. could apply to receive a presidential scholarship.

The government also allocates increased scholarships for students with disabilities and those who are without parental custody.

What are the grants the one could receive for higher education programs study in Kazakhstan?

There are different higher education grant types in Kazakhstan:

Government general grants. The republican budget funds are allocated among the country's universities.

Grants for the youth from western, densely populated and newly created regions of the country . They are allocated according to the designated list of country’s universities and the republican budget funds are allocated.

Government target grants. They are allocated in advance to the country’s universities and can be implemented only in a particular educational institution.

Mayor office grants. These are the local executive body funds. The students study in specialties at the universities that are in short supply in the region.

Rector's grants and scholarships. They are special achievements and merits awarded at the university.

There are specific conditions for receiving the grants to study in each particular university. There are also grants and scholarships from public foundations and organizations. They can be awarded based on competitive arrangements in the separate universities or awarded to the high achieved students throughout the country.

“Bolashak" program

Kazakhstanis have the opportunity to receive higher education abroad on a paid or free basis. Many European universities are welcoming to admit students from Kazakhstan. An international scholarship "Bolashak" has been established by government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Kazakhstanis who have intention to receive a doctorate or master's degree abroad.

An international scholarship “Bolashak” has become a unique initiative that provides an access the talented youth to the world top universities. Over the 30 years of scholarship implementation a pool of more than 12.5 thousand highly qualified specialists has been formed in the country amongst the scientists, engineers, doctors, government managers and other professionals. The scholarship graduates have contributed to the building of international relations, Kazakhstan’s integration into international community and transfer of international knowledge and technology to the country.

The Program graduates have played a key role in the launch of the flagship of Kazakhstan’s higher education - Nazarbayev University, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Astana International Financial Center, a number of National Medical Centers, AstanaHub, Astana IT University, International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects.

Today, the Kazakhstanis have a unique opportunity to gain advanced knowledge in more than 200 of the world top universities in 27 countries, including those included in the highly reputed Ivy League and Russell Group.

In its current implementation the “Bolashak” program has prepared highly qualified specialists for the economy of Kazakhstan in such current specialties as urban planning, energy systems, hydrology, nuclear industry, cybersecurity, robotics, virology, emergency prevention and response, etc.

To address the request of the Head of State to reorient the “Bolashak” program, in 2022, 60% of scholarships were allocated for the engineering and technical specialties study and internships. In 2023, to create high-quality competition environment among the engineering and technical workers through the increased number of applicants, a preferential category - “Engineering and technical workers for a master's degree” was introduced which provides for foreign language prerequisite study for up to 12 months.

Higher and postgraduate education

State compulsory education   standards

Beginning this year academic independence of state compulsory education standards (SCES) has been expanded. Currently, universities are authorsied to revise the content of a number of compulsory disciplines and independently regulate the number of credits for basic and profile disciplines.

The history of Kazakhstan will be studied from the ancient times to the modern period. Also, the universities may independently incorporate the amendments into the content of general education disciplines cycle with regard to the specifics of the directions.

It is provided to recognize the micro- qualifications learning outcomes, also such notions as "nano-credit" and "building the degree" have been introduced.

The "Mamandygym-bolashygym” project has been launched, which provides for strategic consolidation of efforts of the universities, mayor offices and business structures. In each region, basic universities had been determined, wherein foresight studies of the personnel requirements of the region have been conducted, and regional vocation maps have been developed.

The rules of dual study in the HEIs have been developed. Today, over 5 thousand employment agreements were concluded with the employers who provide production premises for vocational practice. More than 6 thousand students has been covered with dual study. Paid practice is also provided by the enterprises.

A number of measures has been taken to strengthen pedagogical education.

A law of the RK “About vocational qualifications” has been adopted for the certification system development . Now all the graduates who have completed vocational study under vocations that are included in the register of vocations of the MLSPP shall go through certification for the skills and qualifications.

A new form of study has been introduced that is online study . This form will allow to provide online study from the enrollment document receipt until the student graduation.

Digital ecosystem in the HEIs .

Digital ecosystem in the HEIs has been strengthened. All the universities were connected to the LMS platforms (Platonus, Univer, Moodle, etc.). There are DDoS attack protection systems, an electronic library, and electronic document circulation.

Virtual labs have been created. A model of digital universities has been developed, and this year it is planned to launch this model in the pilot mode in the premises of 2 universities: KazNRTU named after K. Satpaev and EKTU named after D. Serikbaev.

The digital university model covers 4 main aspects. This is: digital transformation of educational activity, campus and IT infrastructure, scientific activity, as well as single digital platform services development.

To develop cooperation and apply innovative education technologies, negotiations were held and Memorandums were signed with such large companies as Coursera, "Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan” LLP, Binance Kazakhstan.

Huawei ICT Academy on the basis of 26 universities to provide certified Huawei courses was created. It is planned to deploy this practice and create these Academies in 50 universities. Huawei has encouraged the students to obtain Huawei certificate and has developed the talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and society.

In 2023, for the purpose of implementing educational programs on block-chain technologies in universities, a Memorandum on partnership on the provision of materials was signed between the Ministry and the company BN KZ Technologies Ltd.

Under the support of Binance Kazakhstan, about 350 teachers of ICT faculties of 22 universities passed the blockchain technology training. It is planned to train more than 40 thousand specialists in blockchain technology.

To develop cooperation and expand access of the Kazakhstani citizens to the courses of lead foreign professors, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Coursera Company .

Today, about 100 Coursera courses have been translated into Kazakh and Russian. A real students' online study re-crediting mechanism has been implemented. More than 20 thousand students of 25 universities were trained under the unique Coursera courses.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and Amazon was signed to involve the IT students in the OpenSearch project and gain industry-level experience .

This is the first pilot, which is aimed at creating the basis for the future programs. On the part of Amazon employees OpenSearch provides support in the form of documentation, tools, processes, knowledge sharing sessions, etc. There are 100 best students taking part in the OpenSearch project.

The internalization is expanding . The number of foreign students has been increased for 3 years (in 2020 - 28,169 people, in 2021 - 28,968 people, in 2023 - 27,756).

International cooperation

Branches of National Research Nuclear University MEPI in the premises of KazNU named after al- Farabi, Russian University of Oil and Gas named after Gubkin in the premises of Atyrau University of Oil and Gas named after S. Utebayev, University of Economics in Bydgoszcz (Poland) in the premises of Shakarim University, Herriot-Watt University (Scotland) in the premises of Aktyubinsk Regional University named after K. Zhubanov, Marke Polytechnic University in the premises of Zhetysu University named after I. Zhansugurov.

A strategic partnership model between the North Kazakhstan University named after M. Kozybaev and the University of Arizona by concluding an agreement for consulting services in academic, scientific and financial activities, as well as implementation of joint educational programs and double degree programs has been implemented.

During the visit of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Kazakh-German Institute of Sustainable Engineering (a consortium of German universities) in the premises of Yessenov University.

There are about 243 joint educational programs and double-diploma programs implemented by universities.

Since 2019, 550 educational grants for foreigners are provided as part of the scholarship program .

Annually, 200 foreign scientists and 570 students funded from the RB are sent to study as part of academic mobility.

Since 2021, the opportunity to take the UNT twice to participate in the competition for the award of an educational grant has been provided . For the qualitative selection of applicants for teacher training, the UNT threshold score has been increased from 60 to 75 points.

For the first time since September of this year, orphans and students left without parental care, as well as persons with disabilities of groups I and II will be reimbursed by the state for the cost of living in dormitories in the amount of 29 times the MCI or 100,050 tenge. The cost of living in dormitories will be compensated which is a significant financial support for the specified student categories.

To determine the degree of student participation in the public life of higher and post-graduate institutions and volunteer activities, it is planned to introduce an integrated social performance average score (Great point average, GPA). In addition to the academic achievements of students, also social activity, research skills and participation in the volunteer movement at the regional, republican level will be taken into account.

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Learning autonomy: higher education reform in Kazakhstan

• Published: 22 October 2015
• Volume 72 , pages 277–289, ( 2016 )

Cite this article

• Matthew Hartley 1 ,
• Bryan Gopaul 2 ,
• Aida Sagintayeva 3 &
• Renata Apergenova 3  

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Higher education is a key economic and social priority in the global arena. Many countries have sought to advance reforms aimed at increasing access, promoting greater educational quality, and ensuring financial responsibility and sustainability. Often, strategies for achieving these aims are informed by experiences elsewhere. However, transporting education policy reforms can be problematic. Kazakhstan, a signatory of the Bologna Process, offers an example of a country seeking to improve student access and success and promote greater fiscal efficiency to advance the overall quality of its higher education system (Merrill in Int High Educ 59:26–28, 2010 ). A key strategy for achieving these goals is through reforms in university governance. In Central Asia, policy makers advance education reforms in order to accomplish several goals, including meeting “the new demands of ethnic nationalism, a globally competitive economy, and a labour market freed from administrative control” (Anderson and Heyneman 2005 , p. 361). In Kazakhstan, policy makers have concluded that a system predicated on decentralized control with greater institutional autonomy (and accountability), along the lines of the US system, offers a promising strategy for improving the overall quality of its higher education system. This research collected on-site data on Kazakhstani higher education and presents the most recent data since efforts from OECD and World Bank in 2006 [OECD in Higher education in Kazakhstan (reviews of National Policies for Education). OECD, Paris 2007 ]. This research utilized semi-structured interviews with senior higher education administrators (53), members of the Ministry of Education and Science (6), a representative from the government (1), and experts from the World Bank (2) for a total of 62 participants. The results of the study show that academic leaders in Kazakhstan want greater autonomy. However, there is no clear consensus about what level of fiscal and academic autonomy is desirable and whether all institutions are prepared to manage themselves without Ministerial oversight. The roles of key constituents in academic governance have also not yet been clearly defined.

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Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Matthew Hartley

Warner School of Education and Human Development, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

Bryan Gopaul

Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Aida Sagintayeva & Renata Apergenova

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Correspondence to Bryan Gopaul .

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Hartley, M., Gopaul, B., Sagintayeva, A. et al. Learning autonomy: higher education reform in Kazakhstan. High Educ 72 , 277–289 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9953-z

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Published : 22 October 2015

Issue Date : September 2016

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9953-z

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