All universities in Kazakhstan set respect for students' rights as the main priority. No discrimination is allowed towards any member of academic community and anyone who faces violation of his or her rights should immediately contact responsible persons.

Undergraduate students usually have at least one internship period during each academic year. Graduate students' programs include teaching and research practices.

Basically, there are four main types of higher education institutions in Kazakhstan.

International universities of Kazakhstan stand apart in the entire educational system, but they still belong to one or other type of the above mentioned institutions. International universities are quite a new phenomenon in the country. The oldest of them, Yassavi International Kazakh-Turkish University was established in 1991.

In 2020 the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of Kazakhstan initiated opening of branches of foreign universities at the base of big domestic institutions of higher education. These branches are independent units which deliver unique study programs developed as a result of international collaboration. Today, there are 23 branches of foreign universities operating in Kazakhstan, and 15 more are planned to open in 2025.

First, you need to realize that it is more important to choose a right university than to find an appropriate program. Why? Educational programs at different universities can bear similar naming but their content and expected learning outcomes may differ greatly. Having found the right university you can easy switch to another study program there of you like. When the whole atmosphere and academic environment at the institution suits you, you are able to design and adjust your study trajectory with minimum additional efforts. Of course, it is always possible to change your university if needed, but because of differences in curricula of study programs such changes would result in a substantial amount of additional academic credits to be earned.

While choosing a study program one should bear in mind that not all programs are of equal quality in one and the same university. It depends on many factors, so it is better to look not only at the university ranking, but at the certain program's ranking as well. A good indicator of the quality of educational program is its accreditation by an international accreditation agency, for example, ASIIN, AQUIN, AQA, etc. The more information of a certain study program you collect, the better.

During the process of choosing university do not neglect social media. They are a valuable source of information. Subscription to accounts of educational institutions would provide you with direct access to important notifications and messages. You can also find a lot of interesting information about universities from informal sources in the web, for example feedback of graduates and current students. You can use online translator programs to translate feedback given in Kazakh or Russian. See, for example, 2Gis for comments on universities. Another important thing to know is that there is the Association of international students in Almaty. You can contact it when you need information, assistance or want to make new friends.

There are several sources of funding available for foreign studentys in Kazakhstan. One of them is a special scholarship program operated by the National Center for higher education development. Through this scholarship program recipients recieve financial support that covers tuition fees and includes a monthly stipend. Each academic year the state funds several hundreds bachelor's degree scholarships, dozens of master's degree scholarships and several doctoral degree scholarships for foreign students. Also, citizens of other countries can apply for educational grants within the inter-governmental agreements between the Republic of Kazakhstan and other countries. You need to check whether there is any in your country's ministry of education. And finally, there are scholarships for foreign students established by universities themselves. More detailed information you can get in universities' admission offices.

Compared with universities in Europe and Middle East, kazakh universities offer fairly affordable prices and comfortable learning conditions with good level of studying. The most expensive are Nazarbayev University, KIMEP University, Kazakh-British University and national universities.In general, undergraduate students pay 2,000-4,000 US dollars per academic year. Fees are somewhat higher for master and doctoral students. Living expenses in Almaty and Astana are higher than in other cities because of more expensive rental housing.