ASTANA – This year, Kazakhstan has allocated 550 grants as part of the scholarship program for foreign nationals, including 490 undergraduate, 50 master’s and 10 PhD grants, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education reported on Aug. 2.
Photo credit: Atameken Business.
Currently, about 2,400 applicants chosen out of 6,000 are undergoing an online interview, which is the last stage in the selection of scholarship holders.
Applicants for undergraduate grants accounted for 79% of the total number. However, the biggest competition is observed among applications for Ph.D. and master’s scholarships, with 24 and 20 people per place, respectively.
A commission to select scholarship holders under the ministry will announce the final decision in the last ten days of this month.
Every year Kazakhstan offers grants as part of the scholarship program for foreign citizens, including Kazakh nationals with foreign citizenship.
The scholarship program is one of the activities for implementing the Concept for the Development of Higher Education and Science in Kazakhstan for 2023-2029, as per which the share of international students in the higher education system is among the target indicators.
This target is also the basis for assessing the world university rankings and the strategy for enhancing mobility in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) member countries.
Since 2019, the scholarship program has recorded an increasing number of international students enrolling at Kazakhstan’s universities annually. In four years, 885 international students received the opportunity to study under the program.
The competition for one place has grown more than sevenfold, from 1.5 people in 2019 to eleven people in 2023.
