More than 16,000 people from 71 countries applied for 550 scholarships at Kazakh universities for the 2026-2027 academic year, giving applicants a success rate of just 3.4%.
The successful candidates represent 49 countries, up from 26 in the previous academic year. The largest numbers of applications came from the Palestinian territories, Indonesia, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan.
Kazakhstan’s state scholarship program provides 490 undergraduate scholarships, 50 master’s scholarships, and 10 doctoral scholarships. The awards cover tuition and provide recipients with a monthly stipend. For the first time, students from the United States, Italy, Germany, the Maldives, and South Korea have been awarded scholarships under the program.
A total of 27 universities are participating in the initiative, offering 886 academic programs. The largest numbers of scholarship recipients will study at Astana IT University and L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Astana, Satbayev University and the Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations and World Languages in Almaty, and Sh. Ualikhanov Kokshetau University in Kokshetau.
The program involved 37 universities and offered 2,668 academic programs last year, compared with 27 universities and 886 programs this year. The ministry did not explain the change.
Launched in 2019, the scholarship program is designed to attract talented international students to Kazakhstan while expanding academic cooperation with other countries. It is open to foreign nationals, including ethnic Kazakhs living abroad who are not citizens of Kazakhstan.
The ministry said ethnic Kazakhs from abroad accounted for a “significant” share of applicants, but did not disclose what proportion of the 550 scholarships they received.
Applicants can select Kazakh, Russian, or English as their language of instruction, depending on the degree program. They must demonstrate sufficient proficiency before admission, as the scholarship program does not include preparatory courses in basic subjects or foreign languages.
Competition for the scholarships has intensified. Applications increased from 13,723 candidates from 57 countries for the 2025-2026 academic year to 16,098 applicants from 71 countries this year, an increase of 17.3%, while the number of awards remained unchanged at 550.
The scholarship program is part of Kazakhstan’s broader effort to establish itself as a regional higher education hub. During the 2025-2026 academic year, the country hosted 35,075 international students from 88 countries, an increase of 11% from the previous year, while the government has expanded partnerships with foreign universities and opened 32 foreign university branches, attended by approximately 12,000 students. International students nevertheless account for only about 5% of Kazakhstan’s total university enrollment.
Kazakhstan occupies the top three positions in the QS Central Asia University Rankings 2026. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University ranks first, followed by L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University and Satbayev University.
Eighteen Kazakh institutions appear in the QS World University Rankings 2027, although none ranks among the global top 100. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University leads the country at joint 177th, followed by L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University at joint 338th and Satbayev University at joint 351st.
