Kazakhstan Hits Record Number of International Students Amid Global Partnerships

By Kai May 24, 2025
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Kazakhstan has reached a new milestone in its higher education journey, recording an all-time high of 31,500 international students in 2023. This surge comes as the country intensifies efforts to position itself as a regional education hub, aiming to attract 100,000 international students by 2028.

Sayasat Nurbek, Minister for Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, credited the country’s proactive “Study in Kazakhstan” campaign for boosting its global appeal. “It’s attracting talent, it’s building reputation: so far, so good,” he stated.

For the first time, the number of students arriving from Asian countries surpassed those from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations. The largest student cohorts came from India, Russia, and China. Over 3,000 Russian students enrolled in Kazakhstan last year, a reversal of the traditional outbound flow, influenced largely by the Russia-Ukraine war and Russia’s exit from the Bologna Process.

In response to growing demand, Kazakhstan is expanding its network of transnational education (TNE) partnerships. Nearly 40 such collaborations have been launched in the last three years, including five branch campuses. British universities such as Cardiff, Coventry, and De Montfort have already established a presence in the country, alongside South Korea’s KAIST and Woosong University.

A highlight of this strategy is the partnership between Colorado School of Mines and Nazarbayev University, aimed at enhancing research and postgraduate education.

Nurbek emphasised that Kazakhstan is offering generous incentives to attract global academic institutions, including free land and tax breaks. “We support them financially for at least five to 10 years,” he explained, ensuring sustainability and growth.

With over half of the two billion people in greater Eurasia under the age of 25, Kazakhstan sees education as both a national priority and a regional opportunity. “TNE is becoming one of the great tools to deliver on education’s great promise,” said Nurbek, as the country seeks to expand access and raise education standards across Central Asia.

Source: THE PIE NEWS

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